Sword Art Online: Insurrection
by OmegusXIII
Summary: With Laughing Coffin defeated, Kirito and Korai have each settled down with their loved ones. But when Kikuoka gives troubling news about a soul trapped in the Medicuboid, they set out to free it at R.A.T.H. But the soul trapped within has plans of its own... When they enter the Kingdom of Centoria, will they survive long enough to find it, or are they walking to their own deaths?
1. Prelude to Alicization

**A/N: Hello. :) In celebration of Alicization coming to Toonami, I've decided to work on another segment of SAO to take it in a slightly different direction. This time, Kikuoka won't be a jerk and try to keep out Kirito's friends out of the loop, as far as I know. And there'd also be more frequent lemons here for anyone who liked to see more of Kirito and his harem. And to add to that, Quinella won't be alone in the Castle of Centoria. What that would entangle, I'll never tell. For now, you'll just have to keep reading.**

**Prologue**: "Prelude to Alicization"

It had been five months since that fateful day. The day when Laughing Coffin aimed to lay siege upon the Yokohama Hospital and obtain the Medicuboid to obtain its secrets and fulfill what could've been a global genocide. But they were thwarted and arrested while their anonymous leader, the Sorcerer, was slain by Korai Kayaba, the successor to the creator of Sword Art Online, a death game that if one perished in the game, they die in real life as well. It took place long before Laughing Coffin ever attempted such a siege. Back then, a different hero saved their lives.

The one who cleared the game was none other than Kazuto Kirigaya, otherwise known as Kirito. Upon confronting Akihiko Kayaba, Kirito fought him to the death and cleared it, but at a price. He still had to fight one more enemy, Sugou Nobuyuki, to save the minds of the hundred that were captured after SAO was cleared. The two heroes both had something to fight for, and someone. The two of them each had someone to love and knew very well the very meaning of survival against all odds that would oppose them. And because of their hardened spirits and brave hearts, they live their lives in content and peace. And that peace was beginning to flourish into something divine.

About a month prior to the present, Yuuki had married Korai. And in 2 weeks' time, Yuuki and Korai went to the church that occupied the husband's mother's grave as the priest said his speech with Kazuto, Asuna, Klein, Shi-Eun, Rika, Keiko, Suguha, and Sachi present alongside Kyouko (Asuna's mother), Dr. Kurahashi, Kikuoka (a partner of sorts that helped Kirito against Death Gun), and Aunt Rika (who became interested in Keiko as they had not just the similar name, but also a similar attitude).

"And do you, Korai Kayaba take Yuuki Konno to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

Of course, with how hard he's fought to keep her alive, Korai gave his answer.

"I do."

"I now pronounce you husband and wife."

This made Yuuki and Korai excited as they hugged each other before they kissed with the crowd clapping their hands together as the newly wedded couple embraced each other.

* * *

Almost a month after the ceremony had passed, Yuuki had suddenly blacked out and gotten tired. Thankfully, she was already in bed when it occurred. Still, Korai had become worried about why it happened the way it did as he sat by Yuuki on a chair adjacent to her. As they waited anxiously, a doctor came in to visit them as the husband became very afraid to find out if there was anything wrong.

"How is Yuuki doing, doc?"

Fortunately, the doctor did not have news of gloom to offer, but that of peace as she smiled before replying.

"There's nothing wrong with your wife. Physically, she's in perfect health. And, we've also stumbled upon some fascinating news."

Hearing about this, Yuuki blinked her eyes as she spoke to her.

"What sort of fascinating news?"

"Well... the fact is... you're pregnant."

As Yuuki heard this, she widened her eyes and bore a smile as she tried to process the news.

"I... I'm gonna have a baby?"

"Not _a _Baby. Two of them. You have twins."

As Yuuki heard that piece of news, she found herself caught unawares as she felt as though her heart stopped. She was hoping to get at least one baby, but to have twins? This was more than she would've liked. It was the best news she'd ever heard. And it was showing as Yuuki began to shed tears.

"T-Twins? Really?"

As Yuuki couldn't help but sniffle trying to calm herself down, Korai couldn't be any more proud of her than he already was. Although, the news had a different effect on him as Korai was practically as giddy as a kid at Christmas.

"We're having twins?! For real?!"

"Of course. Although, it's too soon to know what gender they are."

As he was told this, Korai was in such high spirits that he began dancing in the room with glee, making Yuuki laugh as he caught her attention before she spoke up to the smiling doctor.

"Thank you so much for telling us, doc."

"Congratulations."

* * *

Later, at Kayaba's company-owned apartment, Korai and Yuuki had just entered via elevator before he suddenly grabbed her and lifted her bridal style before he walked her over to her bed as she enjoyed the ride she's given with a giggle. With that, as Yuuki laid down on the bed, she couldn't help but feel as though Korai should've made a callback to something as the rain was heavy outside.

"I still feel like you should've actually sang in the rain."

"What are you talking about?"

"You know? From that movie I heard a lot of people talk about?"

Confused about her description, Korai honestly had no clue as to what movie she meant as he showed it on his face, making Yuuki realize there was simply no point.

"Never mind. I wonder how the other girls are doing?"

As if to answer, Yuuki's new phone began to ring in her pocket before she reached into it and got it out, noticing Asuna's picture on it before she tapped on the phone button and started the call.

"Hey, Asuna. What's up?"

"Hi, Yuuki. Are you doing alright? We heard about what happened."

"Yeah, I'm alright. And guess what? I'm preggers with twinsies!"

Having heard this, Asuna couldn't help but voice her excitement as Yuuki had gotten her wish.

"What?! Really?!"

"Uh-huh. But we still don't know if they're boys or girls yet. So it'll be a while."

"Well, that's great news, Yuuki. That's actually another good thing to hear today."

For a moment, it intrigued Yuuki. What other good thing was there to be excited about? Then, upon remembering what Kazuto had done with the girls on May 23rd, her birthday, Yuuki began to be excited.

"Wait. You mean you're pregnant, too?"

"No. Not yet. I wish I was."

"Oh. Sorry to hear that."

"It's okay. I think I can wait a bit longer. My mom would think it to be too soon."

"Well, what's that other good thing, then?"

"Shinonon asked us to help her against this guild in GGO."

"Shinonon? I thought she was called Shino."

"It's a nickname I thought of. Anyway, they've been acting bizarre. I heard that they've been targeting other players without even touching their items."

"What? That is strange. And also, familiar... you don't think—"

"I don't know. That's what we're trying to find out. Hey, maybe you and Korai should come along. We'll be starting up the next day."

Given the opportunity, Yuuki realized that she hasn't played GGO before. And even after all this time, she still got the adrenaline pumping from hearing of it. Eager to join in, Yuuki gave a smile before she replied.

"Maybe we will. See you then."

With that, Yuuki finished her call before she turned to Korai.

"Well, at least I know what we're doing tomorrow."

"And what's that?"

"We're gonna help Shino in GGO against this guild that's been killing people but leaving the items."

Hearing about this, Korai became intrigued, catching her attention before he spoke to her.

"You okay?"

"I dunno. Sounds like something Laughing Coffin would do, but it can't be. We got them all arrested and took out the Sorcerer."

"Yeah. So if it's not them... What guild would do that, then?"

* * *

The next day, they would find out the answer. On June 27th, 2026, the raid against this mysterious squad began as Sinon was running through the forest with two attackers wearing black cloaks and golden crow masks on her trail. As soon as she had gotten to the open area of it, Sinon attempted to fire at one of them using her Hecate, only to miss as he dodged before both of them trained their weapons on her, much to her shock. However, Sinon had counted on this as the sounds of a Jeep distracted them from shooting as she smirked before the vehicle battled at them from above as it just jumped off of the ramp. In response, they tried to shoot at the Jeep with no success before Klein and Siune, who had her blue hair in a ponytail wearing the similar outfit as Sinon with the green colors as blue, began to fire at them as he spoke.

"This Tanegashima's full-auto!"

As the Jeep went toward one of the attackers, he was able to avoid the gunfire before leaping away as it turned, showing Lisbeth to be its driver as she spoke out.

"What's up, you PK jerks? Let's see how fast _you _run."

With that, Lisbeth fired a rifle at the attacker but missed as he went deep into the woods. In the meantime, as the attacker that was left behind prepared to counter as he reloaded, Silica, wearing a green pelt with a hooded cape, opened fire using a turret on top of the Jeep as adrenaline coursed through her. However, to counter this, the attacker that retreated tossed out a smoke grenade for him and his cohort to hide, much to Klein's disappointment.

"Cowards."

Sinon, however, got prepared for it as well before she spoke out to the cargo on the back with a shout before Yuuki replied.

"You're up! I'll cover you!"

"Got it!"

With that, Kirito, Asuna, Yuuki, and Korai (who goes by Perseus) got out of the back of the Jeep before the last two splintered away from the fog and into the forest just as Kirito and Asuna went after them. As they did, Yuuki got her communicator and spoke to Sachi.

"Hey, Sachi. Did those guys move yet?"

Far away, Sachi focused her binoculars on a man with short, blonde hair and a small man with a computer to see them remaining where they were as she whispered.

"Not yet. I think they're just watching Kirito and Asuna."

"Good. Don't give yourself away, but keep your focus on them until we catch up."

With that, Sachi removed her binoculars before she began to climb down the tree branch she stood on. As this occurred, Leafa joined Kirito and Asuna as they repelled the attackers while they remained fixed on the watch between their battles as Leafa used a green photon sword where Asuna used a red one. As the three of them fought the attackers, Yuuki and Perseus went over to the uphill trail where they themselves took notice of the three men before she got out her purple photon sword while Korai got his grey one before she shouted to the blonde man in particular.

"Hey, blondie!"

Hearing this, the small and the blonde men turned around behind them to see Yuuki and Perseus as they smirked before he gave a small smile their way before the small man, known as Critter, became very surprised.

"How did you manage to find us?! Why haven't we been able to track you?"

At that moment, Yuuki motioned her head to where Sachi would've been as she practically pointed to her.

"How do you think?"

With that, Sachi got out of the bushes Yuuki pointed to and held out a small black device glowing orange before fading to black as Perseus spoke up.

"We had a small device given to us that hides us from any radar presence. That's how we got the drop on you."

After Perseus said this, Yuuki focused her attention on the blonde man who glared his way towards her as she spoke.

"So, you're the Subtilizer. Really takes the 'subtle' out of the name, honestly."

Despite her comment, he only stood with a look of curiosity before Yuuki noticed how strange his look was. It was almost as if he'd seen something that reminded him of someone he knew.

"Hey! Did you hear me?"

As he stared at her, the Subtilizer in question only granted a small smile before he spoke up.

"Pardon me, but... your soul would be sweet."

Having heard such a remark, Yuuki became perplexed as she blinked her eyes, not entirely certain what to make of this. What made him so interested in her soul, whatever that was? One thing's for sure, Yuuki did not like that one bit.

"Uh, you're starting to creep me out."

With that, Subtilizer walked towards Yuuki before he clenched his left hand at her throat, making her gag as she struggled to break free from his iron grip. If it wasn't for the brute's STA, she would've been out in a jiffy. As Perseus took notice of this, he began to see Subtilizer differently as he somehow viewed him as the Sorcerer gripping her neck before he reacted by getting his photon sword and rushing at him before he sliced off the arm gripping her, making him drop Yuuki as the arm fell to the floor before he felt the intense, burning pain of it as Sachi went over to Yuuki before she noticed her coughing before she spoke.

"You okay, Yuuki?"

"Yeah, I am now."

With that, the two of them looked to Perseus before he spoke threateningly to Subtilizer.

"Go near her again, and you're dead."

As he said this, Subtilizer took a glance at Perseus and saw a familiar resemblance as he recalled the news that took place at Yokohama Hospital before he gave a glare towards him.

"So... you're the one who did it."

As he heard that from his foe, Perseus became confused. What could he have done to them for him to say that just yet?

"What? What are you talking about?"

"You'll see. Till next time, kid."

With that, Subtilizer got out a smoke grenade and covered the area in smoke before the group began coughing. After the smoke cleared, however, Critter and Subtilizer both vanished before Perseus grew flustered.

"Darn it. He got away. You okay, Yuuki?"

When he'd asked her, Yuuki was having a look of curiosity as she recalled what the Subtilizer spoke concerning her soul. When Perseus spoke again, he was able to shake her mind off of it.

"Yuuki."

"Huh? Oh! Yeah. I'm fine. But... why would he be so interested in my soul? How weird..."

* * *

At Yuuki's house, the couple sat at the couch as they tried to work out who exactly that group was while trying to relieve the stress eating away at them as it seemed all too reminding of their war with Laughing Coffin. In their search to find the guild responsible for the most bizarre behavior since SAO, they figured out that Subtilizer was the ringleader of said squad. But what they weren't able to figure out as of yet was why. Although... the look on the Subtilizer's face alerted to Korai the link between him and the Sorcerer. Could he be with Laughing Coffin, or was that murder guild just a precursor to something worse? Either way, neither option would be good news. And Yuuki was no fan of that in the slightest as she cuddled near Korai, who was trying to consider the possibilities.

"Great. With behavior like that, they might as well be Laughing Coffin. Except they're all in jail or taken out. How would that explain the Subtilizer, though? He acts like he knows me, like he works for them. But why...?"

To stir him from his thoughts, Yuuki gave him a hug before he looked to see her in just her pink jacket as it was zipped over her chest and covered her posterior on both sides before she spoke up.

"I don't know if I like that either... he seemed to know us too well... did you see him when you were a member of Laughing Coffin?"

Korai only answered with a shake of his head before he replied verbally.

"Not really. So we can cross Laughing Coffin off the list."

"Okay, but... how could he know you, then?"

"I wish I knew..."

At that moment, Korai heard his phone ring as he sat up before he noticed Kikuoka's picture on it before Yuuki became curious as she looked at the photo.

"Huh? Is that Kikuoka? I wonder what's going on?"

"Only one way to find out."

With that, he tapped on the green icon before a picture of him appeared to show Kikuoka before he noticed Korai and Yuuki together, making him embarrassed as he became convinced he interrupted.

"Oh! Mr. and Mrs. Kayaba. I hope I wasn't interrupting anything."

Yuuki saw no need for him to be embarrassed as she spoke to him.

"Nah, it's okay. We weren't really doing anything. Yet... anyway, what's going on? I thought you guys were working on something with Rath."

"Well, yes, we are. And as you know, since it was his Medicuboid that was able to sustain you for all your time there, I've recently employed Kurahashi as my employees. Well, we just took a look inside the Medicuboid, and... I think it may interest you. Apparently, there's a human soul loving inside it."

Hearing this, Korai and Yuuki became shocked. Someone trapped in SAO via NerveGear would be understandable, but the Medicuboid? The very idea that someone could be trapped in the otherwise vacant machine strained belief.

"What did you just say?!"

"A human soul living inside it? Is that like SAO?"

Seeing their shocked faces, Kikuoka shook his head as he quickly explained.

"Easy, easy. It's not like that. This case is very different. In fact, it's almost as if it happened to have found its way in there once it got moved."

Not liking the sound of this, Korai spoke to him next.

"The only time it was moved was after—"

At that moment, a dark theory entered Korai's mind. What if when the Sorcerer was defeated... no, it couldn't be. The lightning destroyed his body systems with its bolts. But then again...

"Did you found out who the soul belonged to?"

"That's just the problem. We've been trying to figure it out, but the Soul Translator won't accept the Medicuboid directly because of its data."

To Korai and Yuuki, it made no sense. From what they were told at the wedding, it was supposed to allow the Fluctlight (fluctuating light within the mind) of the user to enter a creative sort of landscape and interact with other beings in that realm. It functioned as both the real world and the virtual; in fact, it may have been the product of what happened when they blurred together... alas, to hear that the Soul Translator wouldn't accept a soul within the Medicuboid... that was a great counter to which the device was titled. Although, it did make sense in a way; it's not like the STL would allow a machine to get inside.

"At this point, transferring the data to one of them with the soul intact is a no go."

Hearing about it, Yuuki became somehow frightened of what it meant. She had a fun time in the Medicuboid, even if it was longer than she would've liked.

"Meaning what?"

"In order to accept the soul it's currently housing, the data would either have to be moved or wiped clean. I told Kurahashi about it, but he's worried that this soul would be erased along with the data."

Afraid to know who the soul is, Korai seemed to be fine with it.

"Well then, so much the better. If it belongs to who I think it does, it's better off erased."

As he said it out of his mouth, Yuuki became stunted that he'd agree to it so quickly. After all, it's not just her time in the Medicuboid that'd go away. Along with it would follow any lead on who the Sorcerer really was. Besides, just because he died just before the Medicuboid was moved, that doesn't mean it happened the way it did. Could it?

"Are we sure about that? What if it wasn't the Sorcerer? What if... what if that's your dad?"

As Korai heard this, he looked to her out of bewilderment that she'd suggest it.

"What?"

"Think about it. Kirito saw a digital ghost of him after he saved Asuna, right? And your dad was using a Medicuboid before he passed away and it got transferred to me. When you think about it... maybe he sent a part of his soul into it?"

"Well, wouldn't you have noticed if he was?"

Hearing this, Yuuki realized how dark the place actually was without all the monitors in front of her. She didn't exactly have the best attention span back then.

"Honestly, no... I had all those monitors in front of me back then, so I didn't exactly have much of an attention span. That, and I spent my nights sleeping in bed with the Medicuboid off."

Hearing every word that came out of her mouth, Korai was becoming very impatient.

"Whatever. I'm not taking any chances."

"But what if the answer to SAO is in there? Wouldn't you take it?"

"No, I wouldn't!"

As Korai suddenly snapped at Yuuki, she gasped at his words before realizing how he raised his voice before he tried to make it right.

"Sorry, Yuuki. It's just... I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'll always choose you over that."

Having been told his apology, Yuuki only moved her head down and stood up before she spoke.

"I get it."

And with that, she went over to the window before looking out at the moon above her before Kikuoka spoke again.

"It seems like I've called at a bad time after all."

"Sorry, Kikuoka. It's not you. I'm just trying to keep Yuuki safe. She really means a lot to me. If she disappeared... I wouldn't know what to do with myself."

"I understand. But the offer's still on the table if you change your mind."

"Okay. We'll let you know when we do."

With that, Korai ended the FaceTime call as he looked to the bummed Yuuki. As he did, he recalled the offer Kikuoka made to the couple the wedding, he made an offer to them about an opportunity to work on Project: Alicization. The moment Yuuki heard of this and how it worked, like she was drawn to the Medicuboid, she was just as easily drawn to the lure of the world that went beyond the real world and the virtual. However, Korai suspected how dangerous it'd be. With that world blurring both sides, there's no telling what'll occur if she died. Because it wasn't a risk he found worth taking, Korai declined the offer for both of them, leaving Yuuki a bit disappointed, but they both understood.

Or at the very least, one of them did. Yuuki didn't want to say this to him, but she's actually angry with him for declining the offer. And as the weeks passed, Korai found it more and more evident in the way she behaved. Could that be because she's getting early fits from her impending pregnancy? While it was a possibility, it didn't change the fact that she was upset. So, tired of her being angry, Korai tried to explain himself to her.

"Yuuki... I know how badly you want to go, and why, but... if it's anything like SAO, I just can't take that risk."

Yuuki only maintained her seemingly indifferent composure as she spoke in a soft voice.

"I know. But I'm not a little kid anymore. I can take care of myself, now."

"Well, that one night I let you stay at home alone would say different."

"Hey! It's not my fault that pancake came at me from outta nowhere!"

As Korai laughed at remembering how Yuuki acted upon being bombarded by her own cooking, she laughed a bit at that memory herself before getting back to the point.

"Anyway, you know what I mean. I'm Zekken, remember? The Absolute Swordswoman?"

"But, Yuuki—"

"Listen. I told you something uber important after that fight at my hospital. Remember? I told you to let me keep you safe and that you owed it to me."

As she said that to Korai, he remembered every word she said as it seemed like he's reliving those moments all over again. He also remembered how scared she was for any possibility of him to try to kill himself when she's gone, so he knew she understood his fear very well. But they both knew it was no way to live. As the reminder kicked in, Korai could see her face at the pale moonlight practically glowing as he cupped her face before he spoke.

"You know... you're right."

As she read the look on his face staring intently at her, Yuuki smiled, knowing he finally understood.

"Of course I am. Now, can we please make out so you don't get so nervous?"

"Sure."

As Yuuki giggled at his reply, they began to kiss each other on the lips gently as they cradled their tongues with each other's as they moaned softly. As their tongues mingled, they could feel the intensity of it as Korai began to clutch his hand on one of her buttocks and squeezed it as she began to moan more in his mouth before they had to break away for their breath. As they took their breath, Korai saw her blushing face as he spoke to her.

"Are you sure you wanna do this again, though? You are pregnant."

"Well, you do know how to set the mood."

With that, they got in their bedroom in which the wife laid herself on the back of the bed before unzipping her jacket enough to where her chest was partly exposed with the zipper acting as a clip on for her custom bra. With Korai's penis erect, Yuuki couldn't take any more without it as she spoke to him.

"You can cum on me through here. I'd want you to..."

Without giving any more thought, Korai slid it in between her chest and into her mouth before he began to thrust it, causing her chest to move up and down along with her jacket. As the pace kept going, Yuuki's taste of his organ, as well as the sensation of her nipples being aroused by her jacket's fabric, made her moan loudly in bliss, although she couldn't be heard as it was muffled by the thing in her mouth. That, in turn, made Korai closer and closer to the edge until he couldn't hold it anymore and released his seed in her mouth as Yuuki moaned while her chest excreted milk onto the jacket, making it evident by a couple of wet spots here and there as she swallowed the contents before he took it out and she began to breathe deeply. As she did, Korai removed the jacket from Yuuki upwards before he laid down beside her as he inserted his penis inside her vagina smoothly with no intention to thrust this time as Yuuki was getting tired. Feeling the comfort from it, the wife looked to her husband before she smiled and wanted to know how he felt.

"Did it work? Feeling better?"

"Yeah. A little."

"So...? Are you finally in?"

As Korai looked at Yuuki, he held her close to him as he again recalled Yuuki's words to him. While he's certain he remembered them, Korai didn't quite feel sure that Yuuki would remember his words to her. And so, he responded with a smile.

"I'm in. Just as long as you remember that I'll always be there to protect you. I told you not to forget it, after all."

"Don't worry. I'll never forget."

With Yuuki having heard it from her husband, the both of them each remembered their promises made to each other. And they carry a great meaning for what will occur. He won't be just protecting her, just as she won just be protecting him; instead, like comrades, they'll protect each other...


	2. Underworld

**A/N: And so it begins... I've recently just watched the newest episode of Alicization on Toonami, and I gotta say, it was a very cold perception towards those artificial Fluctlights from Kikuoka. So, I figured if I were in there, I'd choke the life out of him. But I'm not, so I'll let you guess who will. Also, I noticed that language is pretty strong here, and while I can't approve of their usage, I know that they were just angry with the situation presented to them, so I decided to alter a few curse words here and there to make it so that they're still showing that they're angry whilst being sensitive to others who may be offended with the language. And a couple of new faces will appear. For one, Shiki Kayaba will be voiced by Emily Neves and Kira Kayaba, younger half-sister to Korai, will be portrayed by Apphia Yu while Cancer will be voiced by Darin De Paul (love his work as Ardyn, BTW, for those of you who've played Final Fantasy XV). Now, during the story, there'll be some flashbacks that would explain how Korai has managed to look after Sachi and Yuuna, though, I can't tell you when. So be sure to keep reading and be patient. Until then, enjoy the show. :)**

**Chapter 1: **Underworld

The next morning, Yuuki and Korai were still snuggled together with the blanket scattered, exposing their beautiful bodies to the air as the wife felt a little chill before she opened her eyes to see her husband waking up at the same moment. With the two of them awake, they looked at each other for a moment before they remembered their discussion from last night, but Yuuki wanted to be sure that he meant it.

"Well... you gonna call, or should I?"

"I'll take care of it."

With that, as Yuuki got herself washed in the shower, Korai began to call Kikuoka as he picked up the phone and typed his number down before he did so, surprising him as he spoke up quickly.

"Oh, Mr. Kayaba. I didn't expect you to call so early where you are. What's it about?"

"Actually, we've given it some more thought. And it's a unanimous decision. We're in."

"R-Really? You're finally coming over?"

"Yeah. Just on one condition. You need to know how serious Kirito and the others are. They helped me and Yuuki at the siege of the Yokohama Hospital, so you can't keep them out of the loop."

"What? B-But they're just—"

"No, they're not. Trust me, they've been through more than you can ever imagine. You'll need their help."

As Korai brought up this dilemma to Kikuoka, he gave it some thought of his own before he conceded.

"Alright. Just as long as you do something for me. Can you bring Rinko in, too?"

As Kikuoka spoke of her, he recalled how she told him about how the three of them slept together with the both of them impregnated. While Kayaba chose to marry Shiki, Rinko had a baby born shortly after, leaving her to look after her little girl. With that in mind, Korai felt it best to bring the both of them in.

"Alright. And I'll see if her kid can come over, too."

"Kid? What do you mean?"

"Well, Rinko told me a long story."

* * *

Meanwhile, at his house, Kazuto woke up in his bed to find Suguha and Sachi beside him with the three of them under cover of the blanket as they were all stripped bare of their clothes. Normally, it would've upset him, but ever since that one time at Yuuki's birthday party/wedding proposal, he's felt as comfortable as can be. Of course, he still holds Asuna in high regard, but now, Sachi, Keiko, Rika, Shino, and even Suguha have all gained a place in his heart as well. To him, they're more than just friends. And he's beginning to wonder if they knew that... maybe they have. But the real question was this: how would this kind of thing work?

In real life, he could only select one to be married with. It was supposed to be a clear choice, black and white, but now that the others got to him, it's become grey. The only thing keeping him from completely shutting his brain down at the thought of it was Sachi's humming.

"Sachi?"

As Kazuto looked to her, Sachi was humming to herself the very tune she hummed to him in her message, and that brought up painful, if not meaningful, memories. At that moment, not willing to subject himself to its torment all over again, Kazuto placed his hand upon Sachi's shoulder before she opened her eyes and looked to him with a smile.

"Oh. Morning, Kirito."

However, the moment she saw his worried face, Sachi became very concerned.

"What's wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing. Just something on my mind."

Sachi knee very well that it was more than that. However, she wasn't willing to start a fight about it, knowing how rough it was to go through the daunting war with Laughing Coffin that overran the Yokohama Hospital and how close she was to being dead for sure. Now that she thought about it, she became curious as to how it was prevented even when it happened.

"Hey, Kirito?"

"Yeah?"

"How did you manage to bring me back after I died?"

This made Kirito altogether hesitant as he remembered what he had to do for her.

* * *

_At the snowy plains, Kirito had just defeated a monster to claim a revival item. As he went to retrieve it, though, he was given the worst news. It could only revive someone dying in ten seconds. As his eyes widened at this, he began to fall into despair before Sachi spoke up._

* * *

"Kirito? Are you alright?"

Hearing her voice, he looked at her, still unbelieving of what actually happened. With the way the item worked normally, Kazuto shouldn't even be seeing her. How did that become possible in the first place? At that moment, he didn't care. For now, he's just happy to see her again.

"Y-Yeah. It's just... I still can't believe you've been alive all this time."

With that, Kazuto hugged her tightly, afraid she'll slip away from him again, much to the slight discomfort of Sachi, but she adapted with a hug of her own, trying her best to comfort him. As they hugged each other, Suguha took her turn to wake up and see the two of them hugging, earning a slight pout from her before she remembered that it's something she'll have to get used to. A lot of times since their own seven minutes in heaven, Suguha enjoyed his company but had an unfortunate habit that made her forget that the others were interested in him as well. She could understand Sachi's case, seeing as she supposedly died after that one incident with the Moonlit Cats. Even now, Kazuto wasn't in the mood to talk about it, and it's less likely that he ever will with the memory of it all practically hugging him. As both his stepsister and his lover, Suguha just couldn't bear to see him like that anymore.

"Kazuto?"

Upon hearing her voice laced with concern, Kazuto turned to his sister and saw it over her face as he became confused for that moment.

"Yeah, Sugu?"

"The four of us know how much you've suffered since what happened. You, me, Sachi, and Asuna. Since then, we can tell how much you've been hurting. And we know you well enough to know that you're still hurting right now."

"Well, what do you suggest I do about it? Just let you go?"

"No. It's not like that, Kazuto. It's just— you tried so hard to be our hero. Have you even considered how important you are to us too? And I know this isn't your first discussion about it."

She's right. It really wasn't. The first time he had this discussion was with Asuna before they set out to fight a boss, only to find out Heathcliff's true identity as her voice echoed in his mind.

* * *

"_You know what would happen if you didn't come back? Huh? I would kill myself. I'd never forgive myself if I stayed behind, so what would be the point in living?"_

* * *

And she meant every word of that. Asuna somehow got in the way and took the blow for him, and she should've died, but she was moved to ALO in time. How could that have happened, even if Sugou had a hand in it all? What's more, how was she able to get back to the real world even after what happened against Sugou? There had to be more than that. However, he realized he was quickly straying from the topic and got back to it as he replied with his voice becoming shaken.

"I watched two of the people I loved most die right in front of me, Sugu. You really think that after this, I'd ever let it happen a third time? I can't just trust that you'll come back to me like Asuna. Like Sachi. I have to keep you safe, even if I have to d—"

Before he could finish, Sachi interrupted him as she placed her hand over his mouth, not just to keep him from being loud enough for them to be discovered this way, but also because she felt the same way Suguha did.

"Don't. Just don't. No one blames you for anything, Kazuto."

However, there was one evidence to the contrary. When he told the truth to Keita, he blamed him for everything that happened and jumped off the bridge, killing himself. If the memories of his loved ones dying didn't do it, this memory would've put a stake into his heart if it were personified.

"Tell that to Keita."

As he said his name, Sachi realized she'd forgotten about him. In all of her time, not once had he ever crossed her mind, thus stumping Sachi as she held her tongue. At that moment, Kazuto's phone began to ring as Suguha picked it up from a drawer beside her and handed it to him.

"It's from Kikuoka."

As Kazuto noticed it, he became very confused as to why he'd call them this early. Determined to find out for himself, he took the phone and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Kazuto. I'm calling to tell you. I need you and your friends to come see me."

Hearing the urgency in his voice, Kazuto knew it was serious business. Then again, he did try to give an offer to Korai and Yuuki at their wedding. Maybe he's become so desperate without Korai and Yuuki that he's done waiting. However, Kazuto was no pushover.

"Yeah? On who's authority?"

"That's just it. Korai asked me to bring you all in the loop. He told me about what you've done for the Yokohama Hospital."

Hearing his name, Kazuto became very surprised. This meant only one thing; he actually agreed to it. He signed himself and Yuuki up for whatever he had in mind. And now, he's dragging everyone else into it.

"What?! It's that serious?!"

"Dead serious."

As he looked to Suguha and Sachi, Kazuto became concerned with how they're going to handle it.

"But, how are we supposed to get to you without drawing so much attention?"

"Don't worry. I've already got it all figured out. I'll see you all later today."

With that, Kikuoka ended the call, leaving Kazuto a bit confused as Suguha spoke up, wondering what the conversation was about.

"What is it, Kazuto?"

"I don't know. But if he's calling us for help, something must be going wrong."

"Like what?"

"Didn't say. But I have a feeling we're gonna know soon enough, whether we want to or not."

* * *

As for Rinko, she was staying at a house in California with her daughter, Kira Koujiro, a girl who bore the same hair color as her father, but she had longer hair than her mother's, complete with hazel eyes in a light blue jacket with purple pants. As the mother was working, she couldn't help but look at her daughter, sleeping with a blanket over her as she breathed in and out rhythmically as she'd finished studying. Ever since the SAO incident, as well as her meeting with Kazuto, Rinko and Kira had moved to America in order to gain a more personal understanding of VR. At least for the mother's case, whereas her daughter simply had no choice. Although, Kira didn't hate her mother for making them move away as most children would have. In fact, she saw an opportunity to accustom to a new culture that sparked interest in her, including the designs for their technology. As Kira slept like a baby, Rinko remembered what it took to bring a blessing like her into the world: a person she now sees as a curse.

* * *

_On top of a bed, Shiki and Rinko were on a blanket, looking to Akihiko before the former spoke up to him._

"_Is something on your mind, Akihiko?"_

"_Yeah. I've had that dream again. About... a floating castle."_

_Having heard this, Rinko became interested as she turned to him._

"_Wait, a floating castle?"_

"_Yeah. A castle in the sky with numerous floors. A hundred floors, maybe. And each one has a town, a forest, and plain. To get to the next floor, you climb up a long staircase, and when you teach the top, you'll find a palace."_

_As Shiki marveled at his imagination, Rinko couldn't help but ponder of its contents._

"_So, what's in the palace?"_

"_I don't know. When I was young, I used to go to that castle every night in my dreams. Every night, I'd climb up each staircase and get closer to the top, but by bit. But then at some point, I wasn't able to go there again."_

_As he finished, Akihiko moved the hair on the right side of her face behind her right ear as he smiled._

"_It was just a silly dream. I pretty much forgot all about it."_

_At that point, Shiki didn't believe that as she smirked and jumped on him, rubbing her chest on his._

"_You're a terrible liar, you know that? If you forgot all about it, then why would you tell it to us?"_

"_Maybe because... you two helped me remember."_

_As Shiki and Rinko heard this answer, the former gave a giggle with a smile while Rinko just gave a small smile._

* * *

However, Rinko felt otherwise as she grunted while a small part of her hair fell over her right ear before she clutched on her necklace and whispered to herself, having just remembered what occurred to Shiki, supposedly at the hands of Sugou Noboyuki, and the position it left his son.

"Liar..."

At that moment, she received another email on the computer, much to her dismay as she groaned.

"Not again."

However, the email she noticed was completely different. In the first place, it belonged to that of his very son.

"Korai Kayaba?"

And in the second place, it was not a request, but a demand. And considering how well things had gone over with him, Rinko knew she needed to read his message. With that, she clicked in the message, and she could practically hear his voice and tone in her head as she read on.

"_Hi, Rinko. You're probably wondering what I'm sending you this for. Well, as I think you've noticed, an organization called R.A.T.H. is developing a device called the Soul Translator. It's based off of the Medicuboid that my wife used for years on end. Heh, I remember how Yuuki geeked out over you. Anyway, her doctor, Kurahashi, was just syncing the data from it to one of them when he found out something odd. Apparently, there's a soul trapped in the Mediciboid."_

As Rinko read that, she became gravely surprised as she read onwards.

"_Kikuoka said that he figured it's been around since it got moved. Worst-case scenario, it's the Sorcerer. But my wife, she seems convinced that it was my father's soul. And I don't know if I have the heart to believe it. I just don't want anything to happen to Yuuki in this project. She thinks it'll be alright, and I want to believe that, but if it's anything like SAO, I just can't take any chances. So, what I'm basically asking is... can you look over me and Yuuki while we're doing the project, like you did for my dad? There's no one I trust with it more than you. And... if you're worried about Kira, she can come with. Just make sure she gets some study notes in advance. Thank you for your time."_

With that, Rinko looked to Kira just in time to see her yawn as she turned over before she smiled and looked back to the email as she considered the stakes. If there's a chance that Akihiko is somehow inside the Medicuboid, that would mean she'd get answers of her own. And if not, she'd have wasted her time. Still, if there's a chance she'd see him again, she could finally understand why he did the things he did, just like his son would. Like her daughter would...

* * *

The next day, Yuuki, Korai, Rinko, and Kira we're traveling in a helicopter, much to the daughter's nervousness as it was her first time flying in it and was afraid that the doors would collapse open and she'd fall out of it. Nervous as she was, Kira was comforted by Rinko as she held her hands around the little girl with one of the pilots speaking to them.

"We're almost there. You'll see the Ocean Turtle in a sec."

When it came into view, Korai and Yuuki took notice of it as it was held up by four large battleships while Yuuki saw a black pyramid at the center of it all, confusing her.

"Uh, what turtle? All I'm seeing is a giant pyramid."

Rinks then took a look at its support and knew it was a reference as she pointed it out to Yuuki.

"There. See it?"

"Oh. Yeah, I guess it looks like one."

As they came to the landing pad, Yuuki and Korai noticed a man in uniform by it before the four of them got out and looked around. As they did, though, Kira couldn't help but feel how close she was to the ocean and grew a bit nervous as the heights of it all petrified her.

"W-Why are we so high up?"

With that, as she noticed it, Yuuki did the honors of giving Kira a piggyback ride, which didn't quite help out as she stammered before Yuuki spoke to her while holding onto her legs.

"Don't worry, Kira. Your Aunt Yuuki's gotcha."

With Kira having calmed down a few from Yuuki's method, the group simply walked towards the man before he addressed the ones who responded to his invitation.

"Dr. Koujiro. Mr. and Mrs. Kayaba. Welcome aboard. And who's this?"

As the guard made Kira nervous as she hid behind Yuuki's head as much as she could without falling off, Rinko explained to him.

"This is my daughter, Kira. She's asked to come here, too."

As Kira looked at the guard, she still felt a bit small before her Aunt Yuuki urged her on.

"Hey, it's alright. You can greet him."

As Kira grew a bit nervous in the effort, she nonetheless tried her best.

"H-Hi. It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise. My name is Lieutenant Nakanishi. I'll escort you below deck. The others are waiting inside. This way. Watch your step."

With his position clear, Nakanishi led the way with Korai, Yuuki, Rinko, and Kira following him. As they entered below the deck, Kira grew amazed by the space and decoration in the hull before Nakanishi gave a guard the salute before he spoke up.

"I need you to verify Dr. Koujiro and the Kayabas for access to Sector S-3."

"Right away, sir."

With that, the guard got out his phone and scanned their faces, causing them to appear for clearance as he spoke up.

"I.D. Verified."

When the guard noticed Kira on Yuuki's shoulders, he spoke to her as she peeked her head out of it.

"I'm sorry, little girl. You'll have to keep your head out for this."

In compliance, Kira held her head up above Yuuki's as she spoke.

"Okay."

Seeing the girl above Yuuki, the guard didn't hesitate to scan her and approve her as a part of the sector clearance.

"I.D. Verified. Proceed."

As they walked forward in the hull, Rinko looked behind her to see Kira reaching out to her before Yuuki noticed and she spoke to Rinko as she handed Kira over.

"Oh. I guess you prefer her to me, huh? Here. Sorry I couldn't make it work out."

"It's fine, Yuuki."

With that, Kira was now riding on Rinko's shoulders as she spoke of the drastic measures of security to Nakanishi along with Korai.

"Security's awfully tight here."

"Yeah. You'd think the middle of the ocean was safe."

"Actually, we're required to run full body checks on guests. But you've gone through three metal and explosives detectors already, so..."

When they reached the door, Nakanishi got out his card and swiped it before the group entered with Rubio being forced to duck slightly so as not to bump Kira's head by accident. Upon entering in, they were met with a large-scale simulation of a kingdom with a White Castle in the center of it all just as Kazuto spoke up.

"Hey, guys."

Upon hearing him, Korai and Yuuki noticed him along with Asuna, Keiko, Suguha, Rika, Shino, and Shino as they stood before Korai smiled.

"Hey yourself. How are things with you guys?"

Rika, having felt like her whole life was interrupted, didn't hesitate to vent her frustration at him.

"Well, they were going great until _you _dragged us into this! What crossed your mind to bring us into this?!"

As Korai was taken aback for a moment, Keiko tried to soothe her, given everything he's done.

"Easy, Rika. I'm sure he's had a good reason for us being here."

At that moment, Kikuoka spoke up from afar as he walked in with Kurahashi, Tetsuhiro, and a little girl with light brown hair.

"That's right, Keiko. He really does."

When they looked to see the three, he noticed that out off the three, Kikuoka's outfit was more business casual as he had a blue robe with sandals as he spoke to the group.

"Welcome to R.A.T.H., everyone."

Having introduced himself, Rinko felt it a bit weird as she and Yuuki pointed out his attire.

"You look comfy."

"Wait, you mean we get to dress like that here, too?"

Seeing the awkwardness, Nakanishi spoke to his Lieutenant Colonel as Kira noticed the blush on his face.

"Um, sir? I'll be at the comms if you need me."

With that, Kikuoka gave him a salute, allowing him to carry on before he spoke to Rinko and Yuuki with the latter responding next.

"I've been stuck out here in the ocean for about a month now. I can't always be in a uniform, or a suit for that matter."

"I know, right? They're just too tight for my liking."

As he walked forward, Kikuoka spoke particularly to Korai, Yuuki, and Rinko.

"I can't begin to tell you how happy I am to finally have you three here. I was starting to worry my persistence scared you away."

Rinko spoke matter-of-factly to him before Korai spoke up about the reason he said "no" before.

"Just because I'm here doesn't mean I've agreed to anything."

"And the only reason I said 'no' was because of the risks. But with what you've told me, I had to agree."

Hearing about the risks, Kazuto spoke up before Sachi.

"Wait, risks?"

"You mean like the same rule in SAO from before?"

Kikuoka heard the fear in Sachi's voice and tried to soothe it as he spoke.

"Well, not quite. But before we explain why you're here, you should know that you guys are four of seven people whose skills are crucial to this project. And now, you're all here, with present company, of course."

At that moment, Rinko took notice of a familiar face as she noticed him working on the designs for the landscape currently projected.

"Well, well, look who it is. Don't tell me he roped you in on this, too, Higa?"

In response, the boy with spiky messy blonde hair and glasses turned to her and replied to Rinko.

"What do you think? Of course, he did. Honestly, I'm stoked to be here. I'm carrying on the legacy of Shigemura Lab."

"I swear. You haven't changed a bit, have you?"

Speaking of Shigemura, Korai and Yuuki took notice of him and his daughter together before the husband spoke up.

"Hold on. Is that why you're here, too?"

"That's right. As you can tell, I'm getting a bit older than I would've liked."

At that moment, the group noticed Yuuna beside him and Yuuki couldn't help but smile as she remembered how Korai spoke about her.

"Oh! You must be Yuna. It's great to meet ya."

"Hi. It's nice to meet you, too."

As Yuuki and Yuuna shook their hands, Suguha was actually more concerned with what they were needed for as she spoke up.

"Excuse me, but I'm still curious about why we're here. When Kazuto got your call, he told us that something must be going wrong. So, do you care to explain what exactly is going wrong? Because we wouldn't be here if it wasn't."

As Suguha called Kikuoka out, he looked at the room to see everyone's eyes on him. Feeling as though the pressure would somehow crush him, Kikuoka gave a small sigh before he spoke up.

"Alright. You all know the Meducboid that was in the Yokohama Hospital, right? Well, so far I've only told Yuuki and Korai the news, but since we've managed to boot it up, we've found something we shouldn't have been able to find: a living soul."

Hearing this, everyone except Kurahashi, Tetsuhiro, Korai, Higa, and Yuuki became surprised as they all let out shocked gasps while Rika made a vocal reaction.

"Say what?! You mean you guys have an actual 'Ghost in the Machine'?!"

In order to ease tensions, Kikuoka tried to explain their situation as he spoke up.

"Yes, that's right. And we've tried to place it in one of our STL's, or Soul Translators for short. But each time, it's been rejecting our efforts."

This made Korai look to him out of confusion as he didn't quite understand how a soul can reject any action that takes place.

"How can a Fluctlight do that when it's so disembodied?"

"Actually, it's not quite as disembodied as you'd think. Which reminds me... before then, we've already copied a human soul."

As Kikuoka said this, the group gasped in slight surprise as Kirito spoke of how impossible he knew it could be.

"But... you've gotta be kidding, right? To just copy a human soul like that, it's— well, it's gotta be very difficult at the least to capture their essence that perfectly."

However, considering the title of the device, Yuuki didn't see it that way.

"Well, with any Medicuboid, Yeah. Except they're called Soul Translators. At least, that's what I think. But, there's one thing I don't get. If you'd already copied a human soul, you would've known that you could do the same for whoever was trapped in there. So, why even bother asking us for help?"

Kikuoka only smiled at Yuuki's astute observation as he moved his glasses up a bit before he spoke.

"Well, you must be very bright. Of course it is possible, and we did try that, but the main reason you're here is because, like idiots, we missed something. Like Kirito explained not too long ago, the human soul is complex. Sure, we can copy it. But there's a wide gap between it and a true A.I. Higa?"

As Higa looked up to him at his mention, Kikuoka turned to him before he spoke up.

"Go on. Show our guests a couple of demonstrations."

With that, Higa sighed before he complied, although reluctantly due to the usual result with it.

"Man, you're sadistic."

With that, Higa ran up the simulation as the screen went blank before two small green orbs appeared there as Higa's voice replied from it.

"Is the sampling done yet?"

As he said this, the whole group became surprised as they looked to it while Rika spoke up.

"It's witchcraft!"

Despite her comment, Shigemura spoke up to try to ease him from any future panic.

"Why, yes. There doesn't seem to be any problems so far."

"Suh-weet! So, why is it dark, and how come I can't move? Oh, I know why. Eh, let me out. The STL's glitchin'."

However, the other soul beside it spoke quite to the contrary in a sort of elegant voice.

"Sadly, I'm afraid you're out of luck. You can't be logged out, not in the state you're in."

As it replied, Korai and Yuuki were the only ones among the increasingly surprised group to look at it suspiciously. How could it possibly know its own cold circumstance? Maybe Kikuoka conditioned the copy somehow? However, the other soul was more concerned with the presence of its neighbor, along with the inability to exit as it spoke.

"Dude, what the heck? Let me out of here! Wait, who are you? I don't recognize your voice!"

"Of course you don't. Supposedly, I'm just as new as this as you. But, for future reference if you can manage that, just call me... Cancer. And you, my friend, are actually created by Takeru Higa himself."

As it replied, the other soul became very miffed as it seemed convinced that Cancer was spouting nonsense.

"What?! No way! You're crazy! _I'm _Higa! Let me out, and you'll see!"

"Easy there, buddy. Of course you are. The fact is, you're a copy of Higa. One might even call you 2.0. So, try your best to relax, and we can simply move on to—"

"SCREW YOU! _I'M _ME! If I'm a copy, then I'd know it, gosh darn it! C'mon, please! LET ME OUT, YOU SON OF A SNITCH, RIGHT NOW!"

As "Higa" panicked, Cancer attempted to try again to soothe him in vain before Kikuoka stopped him and took charge next.

"We talked about this. You need to calm down. If you can't think rationally, your Fluctlight won't be able to take the strain."

"I AM RATIONAL!"

As "Higa" snapped at Kikuoka, Cancer proposed a solution to him as he spoke.

"Perhaps we can try to immerse ourselves in a relaxing activity?"

"Okay, then. Let's see who's faster at Pi: me or that faker?! 3.14159265..."

As the soul spoke up, it soon became distorted as it seemed to repeat the numbers while it flowed red and expanded out of proportion as Kira and Yuuna hid behind their parents while Yuuki couldn't bear to see it happen as she shut her eyes and clutched tightly on Korai as he put on a mad look before the soul disappeared completely, leaving only Cancer's soul inside before it spoke to the real Higa who sighed.

"Oh, dear. How long was it this time?"

"Full collapse, one minute and eight seconds."

As Asuna and Yuuki quivered at this, Sachi, Shino, Suguha, and Keiko had their mouths covered as Rika became very troubled herself as she and Rinko spoke to Kikuoka.

"Are you outta your mind?!"

"That was beyond twisted!"

"It is disturbing. Still, it's the best way to explain what we've been able to accomplish up till now. I'm sorry you had to see it. We copied over a dozen Fluctlights, including the soul trapped in the Medicuboid once Kurahashi decided to copy the data on it and store it into this drive. Anyway, we submitted them to the same test. The results were always the same. The logic systems went haywire and they collapsed."

With that, Yuuki looked up to Cancer's soul as she spoke to Kikuoka about it.

"And, uh, how come that guy hasn't shut down like the other one?"

"Well, it's simple. He's actually a soul archetype within our project. In fact, his name is abbreviated as 'Concentrated, Artificial, Neurotechnical, Cybernated, Existence, Revolutionized.' He's currently communicating with us from a world we created. Although, in his world, he referred us as his people's gods."

As Yuuki heard that, she became very surprised as she spoke to him.

"Oh! Uh, hi, Cancer! It's nice to meet you. I'm Yuuki."

"Oh, hello, Yuuki. It's a pleasure to see you as well."

As Yuuki giggled, Sachi got stuck on another aspect.

"But wait. If they all shut down after those tests, then how did you make what's in front of us, then?"

As she asked that, Rinko turned to her as she gave his answer to her question before coming to a realization on her own.

"Maybe he wiped their memories? Or raise a soul from scratch."

As she said this, Korai widened his eyes in disbelief. The only way he could raise a soul from scratch was if... Upon coming to that realization himself, Korai became very agitated.

"No. Don't tell me you did what I think you did."

"Yes, we did. We put newborns into the STL and copied their souls."

As Kikuoka replied so casually on this, Korai, Kazuto, and the whole group of women became very stunted, worrying that the same thing would happen to their currently unborn children, if any. All the while, Rinko spoke up about the Fluctlights. Copy or not, they're still souls.

"These copies are essentially human. So, how would you raise them? Not in a void. You need an exact copy of the real world."

Knowing as much of modern technology as he could stand in all those boring meetings at the time, Korai knew it wouldn't come easy.

"And that's impossible. The science always has been so far. But you didn't need the real world, Kikuoka; you needed a simulation of something similar, and you found it online, didn't you? And we both know the only thing that provided it: VRMMO."

"That's right."

With that, the simulation of the Castle and the neighboring kingdoms returned as Higa spoke up.

"Dang, you're sharp. Using the Seed, we managed to create our own world with villages and terrain, and converted it to pneumonic visuals for the STL."

As it showed the kingdom in its olden day's shade a small village resided, four people were shown before more of them arrived and got to work before several more appeared and white walls were built, as well as the castle itself as Kikuoka and Shigemura explained further.

"We placed four of our staff in the first village they are created. They acted as parents to sixteen A.I. infants, or soul archetypes, and raised them until they were eighteen. We monitored the youngsters as they grew up. Oh, by the way, officially, we call them artificial Fluctlights. Anyway, we were more than satisfied with how they turned out. They were sharp, obedient, and upstanding."

"When they eventually paired up, we made them parents and gave them new soul archetypes to raise. Our staff was out by then, so we accelerated time by 5,000, and soon we had multiple generations. After three weeks had passed in our world, 300 had passed in theirs. Now, they have a fully functioning society with a population of 80,000."

As they took in the sights, Rinko couldn't help but speak of the unbelievability of it all as Kira became amazed herself as she went down the steps and tried to get a closer look as Yuuki did the same.

"You simulated an entire civilization."

"Exactly. So far, 480 years have passed there. The capitol, Centoria, has 20,000 citizens living in it."

"No way..."

With that, Kurahashi spoke next to Yuuki, catching wind of her fascination as he spoke up.

"Way. At this point, all the A.I. Fluctlights gave matured into the bottom-up A.I.'s we were shooting for."

Hearing this, Korai became confused as he looked to them.

"Wait, bottom-up?"

Higa turned around from his chair and explained the sitch as he spoke up to him.

"Well, you see, top-down artificial intelligence can't exactly react to anything it hasn't learned yet. But bottom-up would be constantly evolving. Anyway, we were all ready to hit the next phase and were stoked about it. But then..."

"Then what?"

Kikuoka took the opportunity to explain next as he walked up to Korai.

"We noticed a major issue which stood in our way."

"And what exactly is that?"

"The governing body there called the 'Axiom Church' created a set of laws called the Taboo Index. It contains laws like one forbidding murder, just like we have. And, if you've been watching the news recently, you can see how difficult that one is for humans to obey. But the Fluctlights obey all their rules to the letter. In fact, they're obsessive about it. This town is beautiful, but too perfect. There's no litter on the streets and no crime to speak of. Needless to say, there's no murder committed here, either."

As he said this, Kazuto and Asuna figured out what it was that Kikuoka really strived towards. Needless to say, it made them very frustrated and angry as the former spoke up first.

"So that's why you need us. You want us to turn them into A.I.'s that _can _kill."

As he said that, the whole group gasped in surprise before Asuna spoke up next.

"Kirito and I were wrong. We thought we knew why you were so interested in VRMMO's. For training. We figured you'd use the technology to train soldiers and police. But... for the officer of the SDF to attempt something on this scale, there has to be more at stake. And there is. This project is about creating A.I. for warfare, isn't it?"

As Asuna made this accusation, the whole of the group, save for Kurahashi, Higa, Rinko, Shigemura, and Korai became even more stunned than before as Korai spoke up, thinking of the dread of having to send his digital daughter, Aiko, to a war zone she may not come back from. As he thought this, Kikuoka explained the reason for this as he spoke up.

"Five years ago, when the NerveGear was first announced, I had an idea. Although it was meant for gaming, this new technology had the potential to change how wars were fought. When the SAO incident happened, I asked to be transferred to the Ministry and joined a task force there. That was all so I could get this project off the ground. And five years later, here we are."

As Korai tried his hardest to rein in his temper, Yuuki held onto his hand, worried for how he could view Aiko and Yui before Rinko spoke to Higa about his own reasoning.

"Well, that's his reason, but why did _you _decide to take part in this?"

"Oh, um, that's a whole different story. For me, it's personal. When I was I college, I had a bud in Korea who was in the army there. And he got killed on one of his tours."

As Yuuki heard this, she felt sorry for him as she spoke up.

"Oh. Sorry about that."

"Nah, it's alright. So, I thought, 'this stupid world's not gonna stop wars anytime soon. But if we can figure out how to have them without killing people...' heh. That's naive, right?"

At that moment, Kazuto spoke up how he honestly felt.

"Of course it's naive. That world doesn't exist, and it never will. Not even your project could make that a reality, Kikuoka. There's one important issue your plan doesn't even address."

"Which is?"

"What do you think? The rights of the A.I.'s. Those artificial Fluctlights, even Cancer, are still mentally and emotionally human."

"True, but it's not like they have physical bodies."

"So what?!"

As Kazuto snapped at him, Kikuoka was taken aback for a moment as he spoke onwards.

"Any way you slice it, they're no different from us! And you're _forcing _them to be your tools of war! Like hell I'd ever agree to that!"

As Kazuto made his position clear on this matter, Kikuoka stated his own opinion on this topic as well.

"Look, I understand the point you're trying to make here. But... to me, the life of one SDF soldier is worth far more than 100,000 A.I's."

That was the last straw. As Korai heard this, his eyes immediately widened with rage as he didn't hesitate to lunge at Kikuoka as he shouted and clutched his throat, surprising everyone around him as he snapped viciously at the Lieutenant Colonel while choking him to death.

"YOU FILTHY SCUMBAG! TAKE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW OR I'LL KILL YOU!"

As Korai's rage helped to tighten his grip, Rinko and Yuuki acted quickly and grabbed onto his wrists to try to pull them apart as they spoke up.

"Korai, snap out of it!"

"This isn't the time for it!"

"Do you want Aiko to see you like that?!"

Hearing Aiko's name, Korai snapped out of his rage-induced event and released his grip, earning Kikuoka's weary and hollow inhale before he coughed roughly as Rinko and Yuuki moved him back as Korai took his deep breath. While he did so, Yuuki felt that Kikuoka was uninformed about their own A.I.'s as she explained his feelings to the Lieutenant Colonel.

"Sorry about that. But you should know, Kirito and Asuna has their own A.I. that was like their own daughter to help them. She gave up her life to save theirs in that death game. So you bringing it up as casually as you did, well, can't say it wasn't a surprise. Maybe next time you should keep your mouth to yourself."

As Yuuki and Kikuoka stared at each other, Shino spoke up to the latter as she walked to them.

"But there's one thing I still don't understand. Why are we even here? Why would you bring in a group of kids to help you?"

"I'm sorry. I got so carried away talking about the project, I almost forgot. Before we found the trapped soul, we needed to know why the A.I. Fluctlights couldn't disobey the Taboo Index. So, I came up with an experiment we could try. What if we blocked a human's memories, reverted him to childhood, and had him grow up in our VR world? Would he be able to disobey the Taboo Index? To carry this out, we needed someone with experience navigating in a VR environment. Not just a week or a month's worth of experience; I'm talking years."

As Kikuoka said that, the whole group gasped at this again before he spoke onwards.

"That's why I needed you here."

Korai, however, considering how easily he just disregarded his digital daughter's life, didn't feel that they haven't wasted their time for nothing

"Yeah, sure. And what makes you there's any way we can help you with that?"

"Bearing in mind what has been said, I'll keep my opinions to myself. But the truth is, as rightfully angry as you are right now, I'm focusing on using them to _protect _people. And I'm afraid someone would try to use this project for his own ends."

"Yeah? Like who?"

"I think you know the answer. In fact, you were right to suspect it. That soul trapped in the Medicuboid... not too long ago, just before you came in, we found out who it really was: the Sorcerer."


	3. The Demon Tree

**A/N: Hello. :) This is where I make my special intro for my Insurrection story. Like anime openings usually do, they give out what'll happen in the story, especially the symbolisms of it all. If you can figure out what they mean, then feel free to P.M. me or send a review as to your interpretation of it. Other than that, I hope you enjoy the story. :)**

**Chapter 2: **The Demon Tree

At the Ocean Turtle, Kikuoka has stunned the group with two revelations. The first being that he needed Korai, Yuuki, and their friends in order to create A.I.'s that can kill in order to render wars that would normally kill people at the expense of both sides obsolete. In the process, it would cost the A.I.'s their rights, something that greatly irked the group, Yuuki, Korai, Asuna, and Kirito most of all. The next bit of news proved to be a heavy hitter. They found a soul trapped within the Medicuboid. And it belonged to none other than the Sorcerer himself. This made Korai the most stunned of the group as he dealt him a fatal blow. This was one of the moments where he didn't want to be right at all.

"What?! But how?! He was killed dead at Yokohama!"

"That's right. He was. But somehow or another, he planned for it like he usually does. In fact, while we were moving the Medicuboid, we noticed a flash drive hooked up to it. That's how we found the soul inside it."

"Well, did you find out how that soul got in that drive to begin with?"

To answer, Korai's question, Higa spoke up to him before he looked towards the young man as he motioned to a small white cube on the desk embedded within it.

"That's what we were working on. But we didn't get any answers. Eventually, the doc settled on the idea of moving the soul back into the drive before placing it in this light quantum gate crystal, or light cube."

Looking at it, Korai felt intrigued by the design as he turned back to Kikuoka as Yuuki spoke to him.

"Hold on. Light cube?"

"Yep. But in their world, it actually appears as a crystal of some kind. That's supposedly how Cancer was communicating with us just now."

"So, whatever soul archetype enters the 'crystal'... they get sent in there?"

"For extraction, yes."

Taking this to heart, Korai began to wonder how they found out the soul's identity to begin with as he turned to the Lieutenant Colonel in charge of the project.

"Well, how exactly did you guys figure out who it belonged to?"

"Well, this morning, we moved the soul to the flash drive and decided to load him up into the light cube since it wouldn't accept the Soul Translators. Once it got loaded up, though, we heard the voice of it speaking to us, wondering where it really is. At that time, we were using a voice scanner to identify it. As luck would have it, it was the very same voice that appeared in one of Kurahashi's few working cameras. Like our other souls, he wanted to get out, but once we told him he can't, he welcomed the idea all too suddenly and decided to enter the project itself."

As she heard about how the Sorcerer entered the framework with ease, Yuuki knew from experience that he must be planning to lure them in. Although, the way it could turn out might just as well be beyond even his sight. After all, the future often is. Still, she needed Kikuoka to verify it.

"So, he's basically waiting for us right about now?"

"Considering how you're the last people he saw before now, it wouldn't surprise me."

As Yuuki tensed her hand at this, remembering how close he came to doing away with Korai, her husband found himself in a dilemma. On one hand, the way Kikuoka intends to use these A.I.'s is wrong. On the other hand, the Sorcerer's ideas for them are even worse. At this point, the best option he could play is to side with the lesser of two evils, as much as he hated it.

"Well, if it's bugging you that much, we're in. For now."

As Korai delivered his answer, Kikuoka became very surprised to hear this answer, considering his history with the Sorcerer along with what occurred between him and the Lieutenant Colonel not too long ago.

"What? You're serious?"

"But don't think that any of us agree with how you're planning to use them, got it?"

As Korai said this to Kikuoka, the two entered a deathly staring contest before the latter smiled as he adjusted his glasses.

"I understand completely, Mr. Kayaba. Now then, let's get down to business."

* * *

_**Play LiSA Music: "Thrill, Risk, Heartless"**_

First, it showed a purple glow-in-the-dark allusion of a giant tree before it faded, showing another which showed a blue rose, only to quickly change to yellow flowers before a ripple appeared and changed into that of the Lycoris flower with the pink color before a ripple dissolved it into cherry blossoms with a red color before another ripple appeared to change it to a tree with a green color. Then, another ripple came and changed it to black before two red eyes appeared in the shadows as a man in a hood can be shown bearing a smirk before they flared brightly, turning everything to white before six swords were planted on the ground. After which, it showed the shadows of the swords' owners in the order of Kirito, Asuna, Eugeo, Alice, Korai, and Yuuki before the screen showed the background of Centoria in the sunset before it went up to the night sky as the words "Sword Art Online: Insurrection" appeared in the background before the stars in the night sparkled to change the background to white.

The white background then changed to show an overlay of Kirito as it showed him in the first day of the death game, running in the field at sunset before it showed him meeting with Asuna in a hood before it showed her taking a hit for him by Heathcliff only to make him enraged as his eyes flared yellow before impaling Heathcliff. Afterwards, it showed him and Asuna in ALFheim Online with Yui in a cabin that they once had in SAO.

Next, an overlay of Korai appeared and showed him as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop in the dark of the night in SAO before showing him meeting Yuuki in ALFheim at the tree as she smiled while holding two fingers up before it showed him and the Sorcerer IRL in the Yokohama Hospital as he dodged his swords that were concealed before the fight took them to the top of the building where a silhouette of Korai ran him through with his own weapons before showing Korai and Yuuki alone together in his building before showing them going with Kirito and Asuna to the others under a cherry blossom tree where Shino, Suguha, Rika, Keiko, Klein, and the others were for the picture as they smiled before the screen went up to show a blue sky before coming down to show the town of Centoria before it zoomed out to show Kikuoka, Rinko, Kurahashi, Kira, Shigemura, and Higa overseeing Centoria from the Ocean Turtle.

Then, a woman with long, lavender hair and purple eyes started to rise from her bed with no attire worn as she noticed a door opening in the cracks to show a man dressed in a white shirt with a black coat entering in as he gave a smile her way.

Next, it showed Kirito, Asuna, Yuuki, Korai, Sachi, Klein, Shi-Eun and the others, along with their children and a man in a white robe, long hair, and blue eyes, entering a building in Centoria that appeared to be a training room before it then showed a girl with red hair and red eyes, a girl with brown hair and light blue eyes, a woman with raven-colored hair and green eyes, and a woman with long, brown hair and purple eyes holding their swords at the ready before they engaged Eugeo, Kirito, Korai, and Yuuki in that order. As Yuuki dodged a swing from her opponent, the screen went up to the ceiling, and then down to show a man with silver hair, Eiji, an Integrity Knight in red armor beside him, Yuuna, Alice, an Integrity Knight in light purple armor beside her, a man with dark blue hair, and a woman in the same armor as Alice, only the gold color was in white and the blue color was black, and her hair was bleached blonde with red eyes marched forward before a closeup of their faces were shown.

After a closeup of the woman with red eyes, her image could be seen in a cup of tea before it was picked up by a small woman with a robe and a staff as she looked up to the ceiling of her hideaway.

Then, it showed Yuuki, Korai, Akihiko, and Shiki in a glowing garden as blue light went up to the night sky before a row of flowers started to bloom. That light then changed into silhouettes of countless people falling as the background changed into Aincrad as the hooded figure gave a smirk towards them.

Next, it showed Kirito, Asuna, Alice, and Eugeo both letting their swords glow blue for the boys and green for the girls as they engaged against the Integrity a knight in red armor before the combination of their attacks caused an explosion that engulfed the screen before showing Kirito and Eugeo doing a fist bump before the both of them put their swords in their scabbards and walked away with Asuna, Alice, Yuuki, and Korai walking beside them as the background showed Yuriko, Karai, Kito, Ashi, Ayame, Saki, Shiki, and Akihiko looking to the horizon on a grassy plain, with the son of Korai seemingly unaware of the soul of his grandfather by the same name watching over him.

_**End LiSA Music: "Thrill, Risk, Heartless"**_

* * *

**July 18, 382 H.E.**

At a forest somewhere, the sun was hovering above the trees as birds chirped in the air before Yuuki and Korai, the both of them in their real world state, were found to be together in their nakedness as were Asuna, Kirito, Sachi, and the others. And although none of them noticed yet as they appeared to be sleeping, each of the ladies had a child in their arms with the exception of Yuuki who had a twin set of one boy and one girl. For a moment, they each reveled in their sleep until Yuuki's nose twitched as a butterfly landed on it. This triggered her to begin to react as she was preparing to sneeze.

"Ah... ah... achoo!"

As she sneezed the butterfly away, Yuuki then began to open her eyes, however slowly as the sunlight began affecting her eyesight before looking down to notice the twins on top of her chest. One of them, the boy, had brown hair and silver eyes just like her whereas the daughter had raven hair and grey eyes. Seeing the two of them cuddling her breasts, Yuuki became a bit admittedly embarrassed, but mostly surprised as to where they came from, which, at the moment, seemed to be out of nowhere.

"What the...?"

Just then, she heard Asuna sneeze far away before she turned to see her wake up groggily as she looked around in a sort of groggy state before noticing a small child with her hair color and similar female extremities as she immediately became surprised.

"Wha—? Uh..."

As she looked at her more, though, Asuna couldn't help but adore her as she held the sleeping child in her arms and smiled at her, however strange and sudden her appearance was. It wasn't long before the others woke up with Rika noticing a baby boy with brown hair on her chest, Keiko taking notice of a little girl with light brown hair and silver eyes, Shino seeing a young girl with dark hazel eyes and short, raven hair, a little boy with blue sapphire eyes for Suguha's case, and Sachi being blessed with a young girl with raven hair and light blue eyes. As Yuuki noticed this before looking to the children on top of her, though, she turned to her husband and shook him awake as she whispered.

"Korai. Look at this. They're so cute."

However groggy he was, Korai groaned as he opened his eyes before they sat up with Yuuki holding onto them before he spoke confusedly.

"Huh? Where did you find those kids?"

"That's just it. They were all over us."

"What? Seriously?"

"Seriously. Look around."

As Yuuki showed Korai the other ladies with their babies, he came to be surprised as they were surrounded by tykes.

"Geez... where did they all come from?"

As he asked that, Korai began to recall their time at Yuuki's birthday before he realized why they popped up the way they did.

"Oh, wait. Kikuoka said that he used the STL on newborns. What if... what if when we used them... our own kids were using them, too?"

"Wait. For real?"

As Yuuki heard the idea out loud, it did make sense. And seeing as it was the most likely case, as well as a happy one, she couldn't help but become very ecstatic as she now had the answer as to what gender their twins would be in the real world. And she showed that excitement as she hugged them.

"This is so cool. It's like a dream come true."

However, Korai didn't feel the same as he groaned before Yuuki took notice of it with concern.

"Huh? What's the matter?"

"Last time we had a kid, I had to change diapers."

As Korai moped about it, Yuuki began to realize how silly he is before she giggled at that reply. However, it also brought up their current "clothless" situation as Yuuki looked at their whole group with not one shred of clothing on.

"Speaking of diapers, I think we might need some clothes. Do you know how to equip them?"

As Yuuki looked to her husband, he seemed certain he had the answer.

"Let's see..."

With that, Korai tried to scroll down, but nothing popped up. When he noticed this, he tried over and over again with no success. As it began to frustrate him, Yuuki had an idea as she spoke up.

"It's alright. You can just let me try."

With that, Yuuki got her pointer and middle finger together before tracing a blue "S" in the air, summoning a purple menu and surprising Korai before it showed Yuuki tapping on the clothing material, summoning a purple villager's outfit with long sleeves and pants before she looked at him.

"You probably should've stuck around for what he had to say to us on when we get in."

As Yuuki motioned to the others putting on their clothes that they summoned, Korai began to hold his head down in embarrassment as he spoke.

"Why me?"

Far away, Kirito didn't want to believe the situation of the children as he spoke up to Sachi.

"No way. There's no way all those kids are mine."

"How can you be so sure about that?"

"Look, it's just not possible for one guy to have that many at one time."

To disprove this, Rika had an idea as a smirk came over her.

"Well, why don't we see for ourselves? Excuse me!"

As she spoke to the children, they all turned to see Rika, including her own kid as she spoke.

"Do any of you know who he is?"

With one look, they instantly recognized him before a smile came over their faces and they all replied in unison.

"Daddy!"

Hearing that all at once made Kirito put on a look of shock as Suguha smiled.

"It's not really that bad, Kirito. After all, you do have Yui."

"But this is different! I don't know how to change diapers!"

As Suguha smiled at his panic, Yuuki couldn't help but smile at the scene with Korai finally dressed up in a silver outfit that he's been sent before Yuuki spoke up.

"Well, if it comes to that, maybe you can teach Kirito."

"Oh, great. Cause I'd hate to run out of diapers to change."

"Oh, don't be such a spoilsport."

With everyone all ready to go, though, Yuuki became very confused on where they were.

"So, uh... where do we all go from here?"

As it made the group groan in frustration, the children became puzzled for their reaction.

* * *

Later, they all took a direction forward in the forest before they encountered a river where they washed up the little children with one of the twins each being held by their parents while the others were beside their mothers while Asuna's and Sachi's child was beside her father, much to Kirito's relief as having one of his kids beside him was preferable to a whole bunch of them at once.

"Y'know, once they're not swarming you all over, they're actually kinda cute."

This made Asuna pout a bit before she spoke.

"What do you mean? Are you saying they weren't cute before?"

Hearing the tone in Asuna's voice, Kirito began to be nervous and tried to correct himself as Sachi smiled at how nervous he was getting.

"Uh, no! I didn't mean it like that!"

As they walked forward, Yuuki heard her little girl speak up to her as she clutched on her shirt and tugged it.

"Mommy... do you know who we are?"

Yuuki only gave a smile to her daughter as she spoke while tickling her belly.

"Of course! You're Shiki..."

As Shiki laughed from being tickled, Korai spoke to the boy as he held him high in the air.

"And you're Akihiko."

While he held him up in the air, Akihiko became excited as he was lifted up in the air like he was flying. At that moment, however, they heard a clang of an axe from far away before they all looked in that particular direction. As they did, Sachi became interested as she spoke up to Kirito.

"What was that?"

"I don't know. Maybe someone's working?"

Not long afterward, another clang appeared before Shiki became nervous as it was the first time she's heard it.

"There it is again..."

As Shiki became nervous momentarily, Yuuki cradled her in her arms as she spoke up.

"Hey, easy, Shiki. It's just someone working somewhere. Maybe we can go say 'hi.'"

As Rika has finished washing her son's hair, she found it to be a relief that they weren't the only ones around.

"Well, I don't see why not. Maybe he can help me come up with this little guy's name. He's really picky."

Keiko can easily see why as she spoke up.

"Well, it is easy for him to be confused just by calling him Kirito."

To prove her point, Rika's son tried his best to say it with little success.

"Ki... to?"

"It's Kirito! As in 'Kirito Jr!'"

Hearing that, Shino thought the child had a mind of its own as she spoke from afar.

"Well, why don't you just call it Kito? It seems to be easier."

"But it's lazy! And I'm not a lazy person!"

Keiko wouldn't exactly believe that to be truthful given what she usually does when she's not playing VRMMO's.

"Uh, I wouldn't exactly say that."

"Oh, what do you know? He's _my_ kid, so _I _get to decide what his name is."

Suguha considering who helped her have the kid in the first place, she quickly brought it up if for no other reason than to take her temper down a peg.

"Well, Kirito helped give that baby life, too. Actually, its Soul, but anyway, he gets to decide on the name, too."

"Oh, alright. What do _you _think, Kirito? Should our pride and joy be called 'Kito?'"

As Kirito looked at the baby boy in Rika's arms, he saw his smiling face as he spoke to him.

"Well? Are you okay with it?"

As an answer, the boy nodded as he spoke with a smile.

"Uh-huh. I like 'Kito.'"

"Alright. Then it's settled."

Being overruled in the vote, Rika dejectedly agreed to it as well.

"Whatever. I guess it's not that bad..."

As Rika pouted, the group heard another round of swinging and clanging before Shino spoke up.

"Okay. I think we need to check up on that noise before we get stuck trying to decide on another name. Agreed?"

As everyone nodded and replied "yes" in unison, Keiko actually smiled as she held her daughter.

"The rest of us actually decided on our own kids' names anyway."

As they walked towards the sound of the commotion, Keiko was holding her daughter on her shoulders like a piggyback ride as she spoke with Shino and Rika.

"I was thinking of calling her Ayame. What do you think, Shino?"

"That sounds sweet. For me, I was thinking of calling my daughter Ashi."

"Wow! That sounds so cool!"

As Rika grumbled at having to be stuck with the name Kito, although she's getting used to it as she made a small smile at her son, Asuna was speaking with Kirito about the name of her daughter as Sachi had settled on calling hers Karai.

"Hey, Kirito?"

"Yeah, Asuna?"

"What do you think we should name our daughter?"

As Kirito looked at her, he saw his daughter's giddy face which was somewhat similar to Yuuki's. Seeing that was enough to help him come up with the name as he replied.

"How about... Yuriko?"

As Asuna smiled at the suggestion, Yuriko tried to reach her hands out to her father as she grunted before the mother took notice and smiled.

"Oh, look. She looks like she wants to be held by you now."

"Wow. She must be digging that name."

As the newly christened Yuriko reached out to him, hoping to feel her father's embrace, her prayers were answered as Kirito gently held her in his arms before they heard more swinging and chopping. Although, this time, they heard someone shouting as the owner of the voice seemed to speak the number.

"47!"

As they got closer, they noticed a young man with blonde hair chopping away at a very giant tree. Judging from its size, it didn't seem like he was making good progress.

"And... 50!"

And with that final swing, the young man hit the tree where the mark was made before collapsing backward onto the ground before Yuuki spoke up from afar.

"Uh, wouldn't that be 48?"

As she said this, she inadvertently got the young man's attention as he looked behind him to see Yuuki and Korai (paired with Akihiko and Shiki), Kirito and Asuna who held Yuriko, Sachi with Karai, Suguha with her son called Saki, Shino with Ashi, Keiko with Ayame, and Rika with Kito before he stood up, confused at the large number of them before he spoke up.

"Who are you guys? Are you from around here?"

As they tried to think of how to go about it, Korai was stuck on who this person was.

"_Hmm. He must be one of the Soul Archetypes Kikuoka talked about. But if Cancer knew about who we are, then why doesn't he know?"_

With that, the boy simply walked forward before he inquired them of their identities.

"Do you guys have names?"

Sachi was the first to speak up as she walked towards him and introduced herself along with the others.

"Sure. My name's Sachi. This is my daughter Karai."

As the young man looked at her, Karai simply smiled before she held her hand out.

"It's nice to meet you."

"Yeah. Same here."

Seeing how taken the young man was with the little girl, Sachi proceeded to introduce the rest.

"And this is Yuuki and Korai with Akihiko and Shiki. And this is Kirito. He's actually our husband."

"Wait, 'our?'"

"Yeah, even I admit it's complicated."

As Sachi giggled it off for a bit, Kirito sighed before he spoke up.

"Yeah. Anyway, we came from that forest over there, but we're not sure where we are or anything."

"The forest... oh. You mean from the south? Did you walk all the way from Zakkaria?"

As an answer, Yuuki piped up.

"I think so. But, uh, thing is, we don't really know how we got here. Same thing for where we lived. They're a total blank."

As Yuuki said that, the young man looked at them before he had a theory as to who they were, surprising Korai.

"Well, I think I know what you guys are."

"Huh? You do?"

"Yeah, but I only heard the stories. I never thought I'd meet a real life lost child of Vecta, let alone a whole group of them. I can't believe it."

Confused about the name, Rika spoke up to the lad as she scratched her head.

"Vecta? Call me crazy, but I think you're making up words."

"Isn't that what they're called where you guys are from? When someone disappears from the village then suddenly turns up in a forest or field, that's what they're called, a child of Vecta."

This made Suguha interested as she piped up.

"And who exactly is this Vecta person?"

"The dark god, Vecta, likes to prank humans by snatching them up, stealing their memories and plopping them down somewhere far away from home."

Hearing that, Yuuki wouldn't exactly call it the most ideal way to blend in, but it seemed to make the most sense for him.

"Oh. I guess that musta been what happened to us. But, uh, as long as we're talking villages, where do you live?"

"My village is called Rulid and it's behind those trees. But we don't get many travelers, so there's no Inn."

"Oh, man."

This made Shino a bit concerned, considering their number.

"Then what can we do? We do have a lot of mouths to feed."

Fortunately for them, the young man had an idea as he spoke to her.

"I think if we go to the Church and explain the situation to Sister Azalia, she might agree to put you guys up."

This made Sachi relieved as she spoke up.

"I see. Thank you for your help."

But, as she and the others tried to go to the village, the young man spoke up in protest.

"Oh, but wait. You guys are strangers in these parts. I don't think the guards at the gate are gonna let you in so easily."

This made Rika grumble as she muttered.

"Of course, they won't!"

However, the young man seemed to know a way to solve the problem.

"You know what? If I go with you guys and talk to them, they should understand."

This made Korai and the others relieved once again for a moment before he realized there might be a drawback.

"Hold on. There's gonna be a 'but', isn't there?"

"Yeah. I can't go yet. I have to finish my work first. And I won't be done for another four hours."

As this earned another exaggerated moan from Rika, she began sinking to the ground before Korai had an idea, considering his field of expertise before he looked to him.

"Well, sure. We can wait a little while. Which, apparently, is more than we can say for Rika here. You okay with that?"

"Sure. You guys can sit anywhere you like and I'll get to work."

Rika, not willing to be spending those hours doing nothing, however, wanted to be more active.

"Forget that. I'm gonna go look in the forest to see if there's anything interesting. C'mon, Kito."

As Rika took Kito with her, Sachi looked at Karai before her daughter spoke up.

"Can we go look in the forest too, Mommy?"

"Sure. I don't see why not."

As Sachi held Karai up with her shoulders and walked off, the young man spoke up, catching the remaining group's attention.

"Oh, I haven't told you my name, have I?"

Upon realizing that, Korai spoke up to him.

"No. I don't think you have."

As an answer, the young man held his hand out to Korai before he spoke.

"My name is Eugeo. How do you do?"

"Just fine, thanks."

With that, Korai shook Eugeo's hand, the group already having made one friend since their visit to the Underworld.

As Eugeo worked, while Sachi, Karai, Rika, and Kito went exploring in the forest, Kirito, Asuna, Shino, Keiko, Korai, Yuuki, and their children remained behind under the shade of the giant tree with Yuuki and Korai being offered a few pieces of bread before Eugeo spoke up.

"You guys must be hungry."

"Oh, thanks."

While Yuuki felt grateful, Korai felt the bread to be less than satisfying as he noticed its textures.

"Hmm. Isn't it a little stale?"

"Yeah, sorry. The only good thing about this bread is it keeps for a long time."

As Yuuki looked at the bread, she honestly couldn't see any reason why Korai considered it stale. But when she tasted it, however, she felt a hard, rough texture as she winced and widened her eyes before she reacted, much to Eugeo's expectations.

"Ow! That didn't feel good at all..."

"I tried to warn you. I get them from the bakery every morning on my way here, but it's so early, they only have day-old bread. And I don't have time to go back at noon for fresh ones."

This made Asuna speak up as she had plenty of experience in cooking in SAO before.

"Well, maybe I can help cook it for you."

As Asuna suggested it, however, she received a stunned look from Eugeo before she tried to figure out what was wrong.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's just... someone used to bring me lunch every day, but that was years ago. Oh, well."

As he bore a sad look on his face, Shino could tell someone was on his mind as she spoke up.

"Well, why'd they stop? What happened?"

For a while, Eugeo seemed reluctant to tell, but worked up the nerve as he sighed before he spoke.

"She was my childhood friend. She was the same age as me. When we were little, we would play together all the time. And, after I received my calling, she would bring to me lunch every day without fail. But then..."

At that moment, Eugeo ended up with the biggest grin on his face before he spoke up.

"The most amazing thing happened. The two of us went to explore a cave up north. And she would've crossed into the boundary of the dark territory by accident if it wasn't for one of the Integrity Knights there. It was a place no human was allowed to enter ever. The Taboo Index forbids it. The very next day, the Integrity Knight that saved us came to our village. And he offered her the chance to do some good at Centoria by being an Integrity Knight."

Hearing this, Yuuki became very intrigued as she perked up.

"Whoa, really? That's so cool!"

"Yeah. It was. Except... since I have my calling, I couldn't join her."

"Oh. Sorry."

"But one day, I'll finish my calling and train with Alice."

Hearing that name, Korai automatically knew who he was talking about.

"Alice...?"

* * *

_At the base, Asuna became interested in the name as she spoke up to Kikuoka._

"_Alice?"_

"_That's right. I was stunned when I found out. Her having that name is quite the coincidence. The name Alice, you see, also happens to be the name of the concept that was the foundation for R.A.T.H. and this project."_

_This made Yuuki speak up to him next as she became interested._

"_Concept of what?"_

"_An A.I. that is highly adaptive and autonomous. Like Cancer, she had her own acronym. More specifically, an Artificially, Labile, Intelligence, Cybernated, Existence. Our goal, ultimately, is to turn an A.I. into an Alice of sorts. Therefore, we called it 'Project: Alicization.'"_

"_Is this Eugeo guy talking about her?"_

* * *

At that moment, Eugeo spoke up to Korai again.

"I'm sorry."

"Huh? What for?"

"I didn't mean to dump all that on you guys."

Ashi didn't feel it was necessary to apologize.

"It's okay, Eugeo. At least we know Alice is okay."

As Ashi comforted Eugeo, Asuna spoke up about her again while she held Yuriko tightly to keep her from capsizing.

"So, uh, how long ago exactly did it happen?"

"It was my eleventh summer 10 years ago. Want some water?"

As Eugeo passed his canteen to the group, Korai took it and held onto it as he replied.

"Sure. Maybe later."

With that, Eugeo smiled at the others before he got up.

"Well, lunch is over, so I better get back to work. I still have to meet my quota for today."

This got Yuriko interested as she looked at him with curious eyes.

"What is your calling, mister?"

"You'll see. Like one of you figured out, it's not very exciting."

Considering the size of the tree, Keiko began to suspect Rika might've been right to take leave with Kito.

"Gee. I wonder why..."

* * *

Hours later, the group that left returned and saw Eugeo still swinging his axe at the giant tree, making almost zero progress as Korai spoke up.

"Really? Chopping down trees is your calling?"

"Yeah. Officially, my title's supposed to be 'woodcutter.' The problem is, I haven't cut down a tree in the eleven years since I received my calling."

This got the whole group surprised as Rika spoke up from afar.

"For real? Why the heck not?"

As he took notice of the group that left a while ago, Eugeo stuck to his topic.

"Well, my job is to work on this tree. It's called the Gigas Cedar. The villagers call it something else, though. The Demon Tree. They call it that because it sucks up all of Terraria's blessings from the land around it. Rulid has always wanted to plant more wheat fields, but as long as this is here, nothing good will grow. The village had that dragon bone axe sent from the capitol and appointed a woodcutter to work on it every day until it came down. That's my job."

This even made Kirito intrigued by it as he spoke up.

"So, you've been chopping away at it for eleven years now? After all that time... this is as far as you got?"

"Hardly. I'm actually a seventh-generation woodcutter. That's our calling. Someone's been chopping away on it, every single day for 300 years, in fact."

This made Yuuki widen her eyes first before the others followed as she made a small squeak of exclamation before she spoke.

"300 freaking years of that, and that's all it did?!"

This made Korai spark an idea in his head as he stood up before he spoke up to Eugeo.

"Hey, Eugeo. How about you let me take a crack at it?"

"Huh?"

"Well, you did give me and Yuuki part of your food, so I think it's only fair if we pitch in to help you work, too."

This made Yuuki desperate to refuse as she piped up before Eugeo spoke up.

"Hey, don't drag me into this!"

"Oh, I don't know. I mean, the Taboo Index doesn't say I _can't _have someone help, even though it is my calling and all. Try it, but it's much harder than it looks."

As Korai picked up the dragon bone axe, he gave a smile to him as he spoke up.

"You'd be surprised."

With that, Korai took his axe out and held it over his head before he charged it with a light crimson color, surprising Eugeo as Korai yelled out and swung the axe, hitting it dead center on where the cuts were made. And as a result, it got halfway through it, stopping just in the middle of where the dead center of bark would shield the tree. However, due to the recoil of the swing, Korai ended up stifling his moans as he fell on his bosom, the axe falling to the ground with his hands red. As Korai tried to hold in the yell of pain, Yuuki tried to check on him.

"Uh, you okay?"

"Yep. Just a little tough..."

Eugeo, surprised as he was with what just happened along with the group, pointed out the flaws in what led to the injurious recoil.

"I tried to warn you. Besides, you put way too much tension in your shoulders and hips. Relax and let the momentum do the work for you. Other than that, it was a nice hit."

As Korai looked deep into the wound, however, he became appalled to find out it actually dealt far little damage than he felt it did.

"Really? Doesn't look that way to me."

"Well, what'd you expect? Give it another shot before you forget."

* * *

As the hours went by, Korai had gotten to make a few more good dents in the Demon Tree. After those hits, Yuuki felt she could do better than that as she finally agreed to swing the axe with the small number of their children watching them strike it while the others would play on the field with their mothers and their father. When Yuuki felt she'd had enough, it was Kirito's turn.

"50!"

And with that one swing, he'd made smaller progress as he took a deep breath before Eugeo spoke up.

"Okay. That's 1,000 strikes."

This got Sachi interested as she just placed the sleepy Karai in her arms.

"Really? You guys did that many today?"

"Uh-Huh. 250 from me, 250 from Korai, 250 from Yuuki, and the rest goes to Kirito. Add the thousand I did this morning and that makes 2,000 strikes total. _That's _the daily quote for my calling."

This made Rika moan as she spoke up.

"Aw, just end this already..."

Despite Rika's complaining, Eugeo found it to be comforting for his standards.

"You're a natural at this, guys. Thanks to your skills, I had an easy day today."

This made Yuuki speak on the contrary as she took note of the tree still standing.

"I dunno if I'd say that. Whether or not we came to help, I'm starting to think it'd take twice as much years as it did to chop this goliath down in the first place."

"Think so? Then you need to see something."

As Eugeo opened up the menu the same way she showed Korai before, she widened her eyes as it showed about 232,316 out of 320,826 in its durability.

"It's only gone down by about 50 since last month. That's normal, actually. It's a strong tree. So what if we didn't make a lot of progress today? In the end, it doesn't make much of a difference at all."

"Then why even bother?"

"Well, I sorta have to. It's my calling, after all."

As Yuuki tried to protest against it, she remembered the Taboo Index reminding them to stay in it before she sighed as Eugeo spoke up.

"Let's go."

* * *

Later, they all went to the cabin in the woods where Eugeo put his axe there for future use as Shino spoke up.

"Aren't you gonna lock that door?"

"What for?"

"Well, someone might steal it, don't you think?"

"Now, who'd do that? It clearly states in the Taboo Index that theft is forbidden, remember?"

This got the group relieved as Sachi spoke up while Korai remembered what Kikuoka spoke about it.

"Well, that is true..."

"_Kikuoka's right... these guys really do follow it to the letter."_

As they went to the Rulid Village, the Sun was setting as they walked by with the children held up on their parents' shoulders while Yuriko, Karai, and Shiki were holding the hands of their parents before a stranger came in front of them and spoke mainly to the woodcutter.

"Hey, Eugeo. Who are your new friends?"

"Hey, Jink. This is Korai, Yuuki, Kirito, Asuna, Suguha, and Sachi, just to name a few. I think they may be the lost children of Vecta."

This made Jink suspicious as he looked to Yuuki.

"Is that true? You can't remember anything?"

"Nope. Not ringing a bell."

"Did you forget your calling, too?"

"Uh... Yeah."

"It was probably a lousy calling anyway. Bet it was as lame as Eugeo's here. He's got one of the most pointless callings in all the land."

As Jink poked fun at Eugeo, belittling him, Korai gave a glare towards him as he continued to boast his superiority.

"Now, mine, I'm a man at arms, and let me tell you—"

Before Jink could finish, Korai piped up.

"I didn't forget mine. I'm a swordsman."

Jink, considering his attire, found it hard to believe.

"A swordsman? A scrawny, weak-looking pipsqueak like you?"

"Well, looks can be deceiving. You never know."

As if to challenge, Jink held out his sword and scabbard in front of him as he spoke up.

"Go on, then. Show us your skill."

"Alright. But you're asking for it."

With that, Korai was standing amidst a small tree with Jink's sword as he geld it above his head before he generated the same light crimson effect and cleaved through the bark in half, splitting it apart and leaving Jink and Eugeo stunned before the latter spoke up.

"That was amazing! I didn't know you had skills like that! Maybe you were a sentinel in some big city."

"Well, I guess so."

As Jink stood baffled, Eugeo turned back to him and spoke up.

"Jink, well you let them in? I'd like to show them around the village now."

As Jink continued to stand baffled, Rika smiled at him before she spoke up.

"Should've backed out when you had the chance."

* * *

Later on, Eugeo got around to showing the group around as they stopped by to see little children at a daycare of sorts as Karai met one of the bigger boys with a little girl and another boy alongside Yuriko, Akihiko, and Shiki. And when they were met with an elderly woman carrying a bucket behind her, Saki and Suguha each shook hands with her while Rika, Kito, Keiko, Ayame, Asuna, Yuriko, and the others smiled at her before they finally reached the Church as Kirito spoke up, with Rika feeling it to be mutual.

"I'm tired."

"You're tired? How do ya think I feel?"

Eugeo saw no need for them to worry, though, as he assured them it is the place.

"Well, we're here."

"Phew! Finally."

Sachi, beginning to sense an overwhelming presence of authority, turned to Eugeo and spoke up.

"Are you sure they're gonna be okay with all this? There's just so many of us..."

"It'll be okay. Let's talk to the Sister and get you guys sorted out."

With that, Eugeo took the opportunity to knock before moments later, a door opened to reveal a woman with silver hair and glasses dressed in a black dress with a white apron before she spoke.

"What do you all want?"

As they struggled to answer, Yuuki vouched to explain as Kirito noticed a little girl behind her with dirty blonde hair and sapphire eyes looking at Eugeo who looked away for a moment.

"Well, we just woke up in the forest and we had no idea where we came from or how we got there."

* * *

Later, as it turned out, they did have room for all there's newcomers. The only downside was that they had to be split into groups. For example, Yuuki, Korai, Shiki, and Akihiko got one room while Kirito, Sachi, Suguha, Karai, and Saki got another with another remaining room left for Shino, Asuna, Ashi, and Yuriko, with the final one being occupied by Keiko, Ayame, Rika, and Kito. To be sure they had equal treatment, the first people to have their rooms turned out to be the last as the little girl handed them the necessities.

"Here. I brought you guys a pillow and a blanket each. Prayers begin at 6:00, breakfast is at 7:00. I'll come check on you, but please try to get up on time. Do not be late for prayers. You do not want to make Sister Azalea mad."

Having gone through the sort of thing with her mother and Aiko before, Yuuki saw no need to worry as she spoke.

"Noted."

"Also, we have a curfew after the light's out, so mind that."

However, she heard whispering on the side of her before turning her eyes to see Ayame and Kito by the door and they decided to retreat with the former speaking.

"She saw us! Run!"

As they retreated back to their rooms, the young girl sighed before she spoke to Yuuki.

"Honestly. Now, then. Do you have any questions?"

"Nope. We're all good. Thanks for taking us in."

This made her smile before she spoke to the husband in particular.

"Well, good night then. You guys know how to put out the lamp, right?"

"Yeah. And I'm not letting any of my kids get to it. I hope our sleep alright, too, Selka."

Having heard her name, Selka granted him her own smile before she walked out.

Later, at night, as Yuuki slept with Akihiko on her belly, Korai was looking out at the moonlight, not knowing that Shiki was watching as his mind was on his argument with Kikuoka.

* * *

"_So that's it? Your plan is to make all those A.I.'s your weapons of war?"_

"_Now, Korai. I'm trying to help save my men's lives. They have families to get back to, and every one of them that goes is on my head. So I simply can't risk any more of them going into any more wars until this project is complete."_

"_What about them? Those Soul Archetypes? They have families, too. And if you can't see any value in that, then you're just as much a craphead as the Sorcerer ever was."_

_This made Kikuoka unexpectedly curious as he snapped._

"_Don't ever compare me to him!"_

_Seeing he struck a nerve, Korai became surprised for a moment before he spoke onwards._

"_Why not? You're the one who let him go into that project of yours doing who knows what in the first place. Now for the last time, are you going to help us? Because if not, whatever else he does, it's on your head."_

* * *

As Korai dwelt on that memory prior to their dive, Shiki tugged on her father's shirt before he turned to her as she spoke.

"Daddy? Are you okay?"

Seeing the concerned look on her face, Korai sighed before he held her close to him.

"Yeah. Just got a lot on my mind. But, shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"I couldn't... see, I had a nightmare."

"Really? About what?"

"Well, there was a lady in this giant castle, and she lived there, all alone. It was so sad..."

"Is that all?"

Shiki only shook her head before she kept going.

"There was another man with her. He looked so scary..."

As Korai heard this, he looked out the window, wondering if she could be talking about the Sorcerer. The first few days since his battle with him, he had his fair share of nightmares. And the only person who could give him the comfort he needed on those days was his wife, Yuuki. Now it felt like SAO all over again, but the consequence of losing a life is uncertain here. Hopefully, Korai won't have to find out.

"Don't worry, Shiki. Your mother and I will take care of you and your brother. Just like we take care of each other..."

* * *

Far away, at a White Castle, a woman with light violet hair stripped bare of clothing laid on the bed as she gave a smile before footsteps came as the voice of the owner spoke up.

"Of all the places to be sent..."

In confusion, the woman slowly opened her eyes before she yawned and sat up before seeing a figure in a black jacket with a white buttoned shirt inside as she spoke curiously.

"Who... are you?"

The figure then bowed down to her before he spoke up with a smile.

"You need never fear, Lady Quinella. I have come to put you at ease. You may call me... Saber."

**A/N: Hello. Just to recap, each girl in Kirito's harem has at least one child, and in case it got to be too much for you, I'll make a reminder for you. Ashi is a daughter of Shino, Yuriko will be Asuna's daughter, Kito is Rika's son, Ayame will be Keiko's daughter, Saki is Suguha's son, and Karai will be Sachi's daughter. To simply avoid confusion, their ages were accelerated up to six years of age by Kikuoka. As they are each children of Kirito, I'm planning on having them each have an arc of their own depending on the episode as time elapses quickly. But don't worry. it'll still focus on Eugeo and Alice's P.O.V., as well as Yuuna and a certain friend of hers that'll appear officially in the next chapter. I think we both know who he is. ;)**


	4. The End Mountains

**Chapter 3: **The End Mountains

The next morning, the sun began to rise over Rulid Village as the bell tolled with Yuuki yawning as she sat up, noticing how close Shiki was with Korai as the two of them slept peacefully. The most likely scenario for this would be that Shiki must've had a nightmare. Seeing the father comfort his child made her so happy as she smiled, regretting that they had to wake up as she clapped her hands.

"Okay, everyone. Up you go."

Naturally, Shiki and Korai moaned as they didn't want to wake up.

"Mommy... can't I sleep?"

"Yeah. Just give us five more minutes."

"But it's 5:30. My family had this old saying. 'If you're early, you're on time. If you're on time, you're late. And if you're late, don't bother showing up.'"

Remembering what Korai was told of their promptness from before while they lived together, he found it hard to argue with her, or most likely impossible due to his drowsiness.

"Alright. C'mon, Shiki. Let's wake up your brother and get downstairs."

"Aw..."

Meanwhile, in Kirito's room, Suguha and Sachi were each sleeping with Karai and Saki in their arms as Ayame and Kito perked through the door with Selka standing over them before she gently tapped Suguha in the shoulder before she spoke.

"Wake up. Now."

With that, Suguha fluttered her eyes open after trying her best to stir from her sleep and sat up as she helped Kirito and Sachi do the same with her own arm shaking them.

"Well, guys? C'mon. We gotta be ready."

With that, Sachi and Kirito woke up drowsily before Selka spoke to them as Karai and Saki took their turn to wake up, feeling their parents' bodies moving them up.

"It's 5:30. Even though you're lost children of Vecta and guests, you're still expected to get up on time."

As Selka looked at them, still expecting them to get up off the bed, Suguha felt as though she might as well be doing that to herself as she recalled how she always tried to wake up Kirito.

"So, that's what it feels like to be forced to wake up. Looks like I owe you an apology, Kazuto."

"Nah, it's alright."

At that moment, a small blue gelatinous creature of sorts peeked its head our from a bag and squeaked as it rubbed its head before stuffing itself back in the satchel, making Sachi look at the bag before Kirito and Suguha looked at her while Saki and Karai yawned.

"Huh? What's up?"

"You okay, Sachi?"

"Yeah. I just thought I heard something..."

At that moment, Kito and Ayame went back to their parents' bedrooms and spoke to Rika about what she'd call "the good stuff". Although she knew they were all sharing Kirito, she still felt she needed to be in the uptake. Unfortunately, she was told that nothing had been going on.

"Really? Nothing so far?"

Ayame felt differently as she spoke to her.

"Well, we saw a cute, little, blue slime creature in the bag for a while, but it stuffed itself back in."

Hearing this in the conversation, Keiko looked at them in surprise.

"A slime creature? Really?"

However, this didn't surprise Rika in the least as she smiled.

"I knew it, that little scamp. Couldn't stand to be apart from me, or Sachi, for that matter."

As Rika smiled to herself about that, Keiko and Ayame became surprised while Kito giggled.

* * *

Later on, in the forest, Rika was getting Sachi's bag out on the grassy floor, making the latter confused as she spoke.

"Uh, what are you doing with my bag?"

"Well, I'm gonna introduce the kiddies to their own family pet."

As Rika said this, she earned Sachi's surprised look on her face before she dug her hand into the bag and lured out the blue creature as it hopped into her hand before she lifted it out and showed them to Kito and Ayame, making them smile while Sachi, Karai, and Keiko became surprised, the first of the three most of all.

"Ta-da! Isn't it just so cute?"

As the creature squeaked, the anxious Ayame held her hand out to it before it noticed and backed up a bit, confusing them before Rika understood what the problem was.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"Oh, right. I forgot to tell ya. He's kinda shy, so you'll have to find some way to make him feel comfortable with you, at least from what I understand."

As Rika explained, the blue creature looked to Karai and Sachi and squeaked excitedly before it hopped on Sachi's chest, making her blush before it trailed up to her shoulder and nestled against her neck as it cooed before Sachi giggled at the nature of the creature. While she did so, Rika, Ayame, Kito, and Keiko blinked their eyes, confused at its sudden interest in Sachi before Rika conceded, disappointing Kito.

"Alright. I guess Sachi's the winner."

"Aw!"

Meanwhile, Yuuki, Korai, Kirito, Asuna, Suguha, and Shino, along with their children, were watching Eugeo chop away at the tree with a mighty swing as he spoke.

"Forty... five!"

As Eugeo hit the axe against the tree, Yuuki noticed a little bunny with foxlike ears as it eyed her curiously before it scurried away. As it did, Yuuki laid back down in the ground as she moaned.

"I'm starting to think Rika might be right about this being boring. At this rate, it'll take ten times the 300 years just to cut it down..."

At that moment, Eugeo spoke up to Yuuki, making her surprised as she sat up straight.

"What was that?"

"Uh, nothing!"

"We're all done with the morning's quota. It's time for lunch."

As the group got some bread to eat, the blue creature on Sachi's shoulder became interested as it leaped into it and began to nibble away at it. Given how the blue slime creature vacated in Sachi's bag all day and night until today, Sachi felt this to be understandable.

"Oh, you must've been starving. Sorry."

As the blue slime creature nibbled at the bread, Kirito, Yuuki, Eugeo and the others became surprised as the woodcutter spoke up to Sachi.

"Whoa! You guys found a slime gerbil already?"

"Huh? Is that what that is?"

"Yep. They're so hard to find, though. They don't particularly like humans too much. You must be lucky."

"Yeah. Still, I feel bad. This bread's a little harder than it should be."

As Kirito took a bite, his face reacted and spoke up.

"A little?!"

As Kirito chewed on the bread nonetheless, Eugeo spoke up to the group.

"You know what I wish? I wish you guys could've tasted the pies Alice always made. The crust was so flaky, and there was so much filling. Having it with some fresh milk was the best. There's nothing in the world that tasted better than that."

As the slime gerbil continued to nibble into Sachi's loaf of bread, she spoke to Eugeo about her calling.

"Is that because she's a baker?"

"No, not even. Back in those days, she was studying the Sacred Arts at the Church. She was the greatest prodigy this Village ever had. She could cast all kinds of spells by the time she was ten!"

This made Yuuki surprised as she piped up.

"No way! She did all that at ten?"

"Yep, that's right."

"So cool!"

As Yuuki giggled at the thought of this, Korai spoke up to Eugeo about a certain residence of theirs that helped others wake up in the morning.

"Now that I think about it, what's up with Selka?"

"She's Alice's little sister. After Alice was sent to Centoria, Selka moved to the Church to become a Nun and study the Sacred Arts."

"Wow. I can't imagine how she must've felt when Alice was taken in as Integrity Knight the way she was. And what about the other children? The ones that aren't ours?"

"They lost their parents to the plague that hit the village 3 years ago. The Church is the only place that had room for them."

As they heard this, Suguha felt sorry for them as she spoke up.

"Oh, no. That's awful."

"Tell me about it. It's like we're cursed. All these strange things have been happening lately. Like people being attacked and kidnapped down the main road. The villagers say Goblins are the ones doing it."

At the mention of it, the slime gerbil stopped in its tracks from eating, making a panicked squeak before Korai spoke up.

"There are Goblins here?"

"I have a feeling all that talk's just rumors. If it were true, an Integrity Knight should've come by now to put a stop to them. They'd have been here in a flash. Like when Alice was close to stepping in the Dark Territory and then that Integrity Knight caught her and helped us get back home."

As Korai heard this, he recalled another memory in the past prior to his dive in the Underworld.

* * *

_Kikuoka was speaking with Korai, Yuuki, Kirito, Asuna, and the others as he was showing them the other Soul Translators with one of them in use with a man in silver hair occupying it as Yuuna stepped in the room to use it with a smile as she laid down._

"_As you know, Project Alicization was our top priority. And it was fortunate that Eiji managed to dive when he did. He was able to stop her from breaking a law in the Taboo Index. After that, she got promoted and moved to Centoria, where the castle resided. So, that means you'll have to find some way to get there as quickly as you can. No doubt the Sorcerer's gonna have the same idea."_

* * *

As Korai took this into heart, Eugeo continued speaking to them.

"That was nothing compared to Goblins."

"Didn't think so."

"Either way, there have been a lot of deaths over the past two or three years. More than usual."

Hearing about this, Rika tried to apply logic to the solution for that.

"Well, can't you revive them with some Sacred Art spell or something?"

"Well... I don't know about that. But I remember Alice saying there was a high-level Sacred Art that could stop a life from decreasing."

"For real?! Well, why don't you use it then?"

"Alice said she found a passage about that spell in one of the old books at the Church. But the problem is, only one of the High Priests at the Axiom Church can use it."

As those two words echoed in Asuna's mind, she became interested as she and the others knew about that from Kikuoka.

"Axiom Church?"

"It's in Centoria. They wrote the Taboo Index."

"Well, do you have to be a High Priest to use that spell?"

"Yeah. It's not for regular folk like us. The Arts get their strength from the sacred power that Solus and Terraria saturate the air and land with. The more elaborate the art, the more sacred power it takes. It would take more power than this forest has, and no one from here to Zakkaria can wield it."

This made Yuuki more intrigued as she never heard about Terraria and Solus before.

"So, who exactly are Terraria and Solus?"

"They're actually the goddesses of the Earth and Sky. They're the reason Centoria exists the way it does. But the main god in charge of it... was Stacia. The texts say that she created Centoria and its people."

"Wow. For real?"

"Yeah. And to be able to communicate with them, they use a crystal to link those in the Axiom Church to them. Really, it's because of that communication we're living life the way we do."

Hearing about the communication, Yuuki began to think about the recent odd goings-on here in Rulid Village before she spoke up.

"Eugeo... do you think maybe that the crystal might be telling the Integrity Knights that something worse than the Goblins might be taking them? Maybe they're trying to contain them first."

"Honestly, I suspected as much about the rumors, but I didn't think about the crystal telling them that."

As Yuuki pondered this, Kirito had a different Sacred Art in mind as he spoke up.

"I wonder if there's a Sacred Art that could help us cut this tree down."

Hearing his query, Eugeo made a lighthearted, joyful laugh before he replied.

"That would make things easier."

As the group looked at the axe on the tree, Yuuki was curious about the other variety of weapons as she spoke to Eugeo.

"Hey, uh, Euge. Is it cool if I call you that?"

"Sure. I guess."

"Okay. Well, do you have anything tougher than that axe in your village?"

"No, I'm afraid not. The only thing stronger than the Dragon Bone Axe would be an Integrity Knight—"

As Eugeo said this, he stopped himself, remembering something that could help as he spoke up.

"On second thought, maybe there is. Wait here for me. I'll be back in a bit."

As Sachi grew curious with the slime gerbil peeking out of the bread where it ate away, she spoke inquisitively.

"Huh? What for?"

Later, Sachi's question was answered as Eugeo was carrying a sword-shaped package on his back as Korai took into account the weight of the package and went over to him and helped him carry it, experiencing the heavy weight for himself.

"Whoa, okay! Easy there, buddy. You doing alright?"

"Yeah. Just be careful. If it falls on your foot, it'll leave more than a scratch."

"Noted."

As Korai took the heavy package from Eugeo, he planted it firmly in the ground before he unzipped it, revealing a blue sword in a scabbard with a blue rose as its hilt. Surprised to see it, Asuna spoke to Eugeo.

"Whoa. What is that?"

"It's a Blue Rose Sword from a fairytale."

"Huh? What fairytale?"

"It goes like this. 300 years ago, Bercouli the Swordsman went to the End Mountains. He entered the lair of the White Dragon, our protector, and found that sword. It's just a silly story. That is, it was, until some kids decided to find out if it was true."

Taking interest in the story, Shiki spoke to Eugeo as she studied the sword in fascination.

"And who were those kids?"

"I mentioned it yesterday. Remember? About how Alice and I went to the End Mountains? I found that sword in the Dragon's lair. I couldn't even lift it by myself back then."

"Whoa..."

Kirito, on the other hand, felt it didn't make sense that the Dragon would just let them go.

"Well, what did the Dragon have to say about you guys breaking into its home?"

"Oh, there was nothing left of it except some bones. We took the wrong tunnel afterwards and Alice was extremely close to crossing into the Dark Territory. She tried to cross it because she saw someone reaching his hand out to her, and she wanted to save him. The next day after that, that same Integrity Knight offered her a chance to become an Integrity Knight at Centoria. She took it, but she was given a chance to say goodbye to us. I dunno... Maybe it's because they're trying to find some peaceful way to settle things with those in the Dark Territory?"

As awestruck as the group was about what's been going down, Eugeo realized he was getting off topic before he got back to it.

"I'm sorry. Back to the sword. I left it there that day and never forgot it. So, two summers ago I went back. Every day of rest, I'd go drag it. It took 3 months to get it back here."

This made Korai surprised for a while before remembering how heavy it must've been for Eugeo.

"Seriously? Three whole months? Sorry for asking that, but what's the big deal about that sword?"

"I guess, I was hoping one day I'd had the strength to swing it. I'm still not strong enough to. Do you think you are?"

"Only one way to find out."

With that, Korai took the Blue Rose Sword and tried to lift it from its scabbard slightly before he prepared a pose and staggered a bit from the weight, making Yuuki, Akihiko, Shiki, and the others back up in surprise before Eugeo spoke to him.

"Looks like it's too heavy for you too."

"Shut up."

As Korai looked in the reflection, he began to notice a great difference from it compared to other swords as he spoke.

"What exactly is that thing made out of? It's not steel, is it?"

"No, I don't think so. And it's not silver, or a Dragon Bone either. I think it might be a Divine Object."

This made the slime gerbil squeak as it popped out of the bread it vacated in and onto Sachi's shoulder before she spoke.

"What's a Divine Object?"

"It's something that was either made with the help of the gods or was created by them. We call things like that Divine Objects."

"Hmm. I guess it makes sense."

Wanting the tree to be cut down more than anything, Rika wanted to get it over with.

"Hey, Euge! Can you just cut it down already?"

As Korai smiled at her behavior, he had an idea as he spoke up.

"Actually, can you check how much life that Demon Tree has now?"

Eugeo began to suspect what it was for as he spoke up.

"Don't tell me, let me guess. You're going to try striking it with the sword."

"Yep, that's right. Does the Taboo Index say anything against that?"

"No, it doesn't."

At that moment, Eugeo checked up on the tree's durability, seeing that it was at 232,315 over 320,826 as he replied.

"Right now, it's at 232,315."

"Okay. Get it memorized, and everyone, back up."

With that, everyone heeded his advice before Korai held it behind him and charged it with a light crimson effect before he charged at the tree while shouting as he managed to stick it into the tree before being knocked back by the light effect and fell on his rump before Akihiko went to him and spoke.

"Daddy! Are you okay?"

At the very least, it made his hands twitch as Korai replied to his son.

"Y-Yeah. Never better."

As the slime gerbil took notice and hopped over to him, Eugeo spoke to him as though he should've expected it.

"I told you before. That tree is tough."

At that moment, the slime gerbil began coating itself in his hands, surprising Korai as he felt a sticky sensation on them.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

Suddenly, the slime gerbil began to glow a green light, making the group surprised before it eased the tension of his hands with Sachi holding her mouth over her hands before the slime gerbil's glow ceased and reformed into its cute state before it looked at Korai's confused state.

"What did you... just do?"

As the slime gerbil hopped off of his hands and onto the grass while heading back to Sachi's shoulder, Eugeo spoke about what it did, seeing as his hands weren't trembling anymore.

"I guess it must've healed your hands. There's a lot we don't know about these little guys."

However, what became more interesting than that was the fact that the sword managed to stick into the tree.

"No way... you actually cut into it. And deep, too."

As the group took notice of that, while Yuriko looked at it in wonder, Korai spoke to Eugeo.

"Well, see how much it's life is at now."

As Eugeo did just that, the results were actually upsetting as he spoke on its remaining durability.

"232,314."

"What?! It only went down by one point?!"

"Your hit landed in the wrong spot. I bet it would've decreased it's life a lot more if you got it in the center of the cut instead of the bark."

Hearing this, Korai grew a bit embarrassed as he spoke.

"Oh, yeah. Guess I should've watched where I was aiming."

"Looks like your intuition was right, though. The sword is more effective than the axe. Even so, we'd have to master using it before we get any results."

As they heard about it, Asuna had an idea as she spoke up.

"Well, maybe you can try hitting its center of the cut, Eugeo."

"I can barely hold the sword, let alone swing it."

At that moment, Kirito piped up as he sat up.

"It's all about technique, and I can help you with that."

"Hmmm... Okay, I'll give it a shot."

With that, Eugeo grabbed onto the sword and tried to pull it out before he was met with much difficulty before pulling it out and feeling the weight of it overcoming him again.

"So heavy..."

Despite this, Kirito continued to provide coaching for Eugeo.

"First thing, find your balance. And when you swing, swing with your body. With swords, it's more about momentum, not just arm strength."

"Mm-hmm."

As Eugeo stepped back, he held it at the ready for a moment before he swung the blade at the tree, managing to cut into it, only to topple back before the sword landed in the grass as Sachi, Yuuki, Kirito, Asuna, and Korai went over to him as she spoke in worry.

"Hey! Are you okay, Eugeo?"

"Yeah. But, to tell you the truth, I think _I _lost some life on that one."

As Kirito lifted him up, he gave him a smile as he spoke.

"Oh, well. It was a good try."

As Kirito said this to Eugeo, Korai couldn't help but feel that something was up with the sword, and if not that, then it must be them. After all, in SAO, ALO, and GGO, you'd have to be at a certain level to master any weapon. Perhaps that same logic applied here, too. At that moment, Yuuki spoke up about Sachi's pet.

"So, does it have a name or what?"

"Uh, I don't know. I only just found out it was living in my satchel for a whole day."

"Hmm... how about 'Gummy?"

"Gummy?"

As Yuuki nodded, Korai became interested and turned to her.

"Now what gave you that idea?"

"I came up with that name 'cause it's like gummy candy. It's good, right?"

Taking in account its textures, Sachi felt it made sense as Korai replied.

"Oh, yeah!"

"I guess it fits. I like it."

"I like it, too."

As Gummy squeaked, Yuuki smiled as she replied.

"Told ya."

* * *

Later, Kirito and the others were back at the Church as he, Sachi, and Karai were sharing a bath while Gummy sat on a windowsill above them as she spoke to him.

"You know, it feels really soothing. Especially when it's with you."

As Kirito smiled at that, he held her close as they watched Karai play in the water by swimming in it while holding her breath as he had some thoughts.

"At this rate, we'll never get to Centoria. We need Eugeo's help, but he won't bail on his calling. If it wasn't for that Taboo Index, he could do whatever he wants. He said the Axiom Church came up with it. I wonder what the deal is with them."

Remembering what Kikuoka spoke about the Soul Archetypes, Sachi spoke positioned herself over him and sat just in front of him as she spoke to Kirito about the possible odds in their predicament.

"I honestly don't know, Kirito. But I do know that they wouldn't let him break a rule. And yet... in Alice's case, she tried to go there by her own choice. So, the bigger question is... what kind of fluctlight is Alice?"

At that moment, Karai popped up from the water and onto her mother's back as she and Kirito got splashed while Gummy avoided the water on the windowsill to prevent from getting wet as it squeaked before she giggled.

"I gotcha, Mommy!"

"Yeah, Karai. You sure did."

At that moment, Gummy jumped from the windowsill to Sachi's shoulder as it squeaked before she thought of its own fluctlight as she held her hand to it before it ran up onto it and looked at her while licking its paws.

"And for that matter, what about this? Is it a soul archetype, too?"

As it squeaked, Kirito, who found himself with another ambush from Karai as she zipped in between them to look at Gummy with fascination, spoke up to her as she petted it.

"Well, maybe its own fluctlight was part of the simulation to begin with. R.A.T.H. did get the idea from VRMMO worlds."

"So, I get it. Even the fluctlight of the creatures in VRMMOs can be copied, too."

"Sorta. But can we even call those fluctlights?"

Hearing this from Kirito, Sachi began to get upset as she snapped back at him.

"What are you talking about, Kirito? Of course, they are! That's like saying Yui doesn't have a soul!"

"Hey, c'mon, Sachi! Don't bring Yui into this like that."

Realizing her overstep in boundaries, Sachi felt embarrassed as she spoke.

"Sorry, Kirito. It's just... everything here is an artificial fluctlight. And they never asked to be used like that. I just wish Kikuoka would stop treating them like objects."

"I get that. And I know that fluctlights come from people, but from monsters and NPC's? It just doesn't seem like it'd work out like that."

As Sachi looked at the purring Gummy, she had an idea about how it could work as she looked up to him.

"Well, think about it this way. If Gummy behaved like an NPC, would it have gone anywhere near us?"

As Kirito tried to say his answer, he began to realize that he had no answer for it as he got stumped, much to Sachi's expectations as she went on.

"That's because anything that's copied over here can be just as easily influenced as the Soul Archetypes, just like Yui. Or did you forget that with your memories?"

As Sachi made a small laugh, Kirito took offense to it as he responded sarcastically.

"Ha ha ha. Very funny."

Taking in every word of what she said, Sachi looked towards Gummy who stared back at her with a longing squeak before she spoke.

"What are you thinking little one? What do _you_ feel?"

As an answer to her question, Selka knocked on the door and spoke up to Sachi.

"Hello? Is someone in there?"

To answer, Sachi spoke up.

"Uh, yes. Me, Kirito, and Karai are bathing together. But we're almost done."

This made Selka embarrassed before she spoke.

"Oh, um, no! You guys can take your time. I was just checking. Sorry to bother you. Good night."

"No, it's okay, Selka, really. Good night."

With that, Selka smiled before walking to her bedroom just as Rika cleared her throat behind her, catching her attention as she noticed her and Keiko before she spoke.

"Actually, Selka. We've just got a couple a questions for ya. Do you think you can answer them?"

* * *

Later, Rika, Keiko, Korai, and Yuuki, were with Selka as she sat on her bed.

"So, what was it you guys wanted to ask me?"

At that moment, Yuuki scooched closer to Selka before she spoke.

"Well, uh... it's about your older sister."

This made Selka flinch a bit before she explained.

"We heard she was taken in to be an Integrity Knight from Eugeo. And that her name was Alice."

"He did, did he? What else did he tell you, besides her name was Alice?"

"Well, he told us she studied the Sacred Arts here at the Church. And that ten years later, an Integrity Knight brought her in to be one herself, right on the spot. I really think he misses her."

This gave Selka food for thought as she spoke.

"I didn't know. I thought he forgot about her..."

This made Korai confused as he and Keiko spoke up.

"Well, why would he?"

"He practically worked his butt off to fulfill his calling so he could be with her."

This made her smile a bit before she spoke again.

"That explains a lot about him, though. _She's _the reason Eugeo's working so hard, and why he's so sad."

As those words left Selka's mouth, Rika found disbelief in the other reason.

"Are you kidding? I mean, sure, he likes to work hard to be with her, no matter how pointless it is, but him being sad?"

"You had to have noticed it, how quiet and gloomy he is."

Remembering that particular description, Rika saw where she would think that.

"Oh, yeah. I thought he looked nostalgic."

"When my sister was here, every time I saw him, he had a smile on his face. I don't remember seeing him without one back then. But not anymore. He spends his days of rest alone, and the only time I see him is when he goes to the forest."

This made Rika perk up a smirk as she spoke.

"Oh, I see. You really like him, don't you?"

As expected, this made Selka blush and panic as she spoke against that.

"I didn't say that! Oh my gosh!"

"Yeah, sure."

As Keiko bumped her in the arm, she spoke next to Selka.

"Well, what's the big deal, then?"

"Everyone compares me to Alice. No one says it, but I know. When my parents see me, I remind them of her. And I can't stand it anymore. That's probably why Eugeo avoids me. When he sees me, he thinks of her, and I can tell it makes him sad."

As Rika looked at her, she found it difficult to see any resemblance.

"Well, I don't know. I mean, it's not doing it for me."

Strangely, Selka took comfort in that as she smiled at her for a moment before her sadness returned.

"That's nice to hear, Rika, but... but there's nothing I can do. It's not _my _fault she's gone...!"

As Selka said these words, her tears went onto her nightgown, instantly absorbed into it before she wiped her tears as the group that talked with her felt sorry for her.

"I'm sorry. I'm acting like a baby."

Korai, however, didn't quite feel like that. In fact, none of them did. Although, he was the only one among them who truly understood as he spoke up.

"Well, I don't see it that way. If you need to cry, it's okay. Better to let it out than hold it in."

As Korai said that, Selka gave him a smile as she wiped her face again.

"Yes, you're right. In fact, I feel much better already. Crying in front of others is not something I do."

"I can imagine why. But I can also see where you're coming from. My father did terrible things to so many innocent people. And even after he's gone, they blamed every terrible thing he did on me. But... I never did any of what he did."

Hearing that context, Selka looked at him in confusion as she spoke.

"Hold on. Is your memory back?"

"Yeah; just bits and pieces, though. I don't remember everything yet, but I hope I do. At least the pleasant ones... Anyway, I didn't want to go through living a life being blamed for everything my father did; I wanted to end it, one way or the other. But Yuuki... she saw me for who I really was and she stayed by me all this time."

"Yep, that's right."

"The point is, it doesn't matter what anyone thinks; you're not your sister any more than I'm my father. You can only live your life, not someone else's. Does that make sense?"

Hearing Korai's words of comfort, Selka smiled at him before she spoke.

"Yes, you're right."

Just then, they heard a bell rolling in the Church before she spoke.

"I should get going."

As Selka stood up and walked to the door, she turned to the group before she spoke.

"Say... did Eugeo happen to tell you why the Integrity Knight took my sister in?"

This made Rika confused as she then remembered what he said and spoke up.

"Oh, yeah. He said it was because she wanted to help someone who was in trouble in the Dark Territory. They went all the way to the End Mountains to do that, though."

This made Selka interested as she held her hand to her face.

"I see... the End Mountains, huh?"

Seeing the look on her face, Yuuki spoke up to her.

"Y'know, if you're interested, we can go look there tomorrow. Maybe we'll find the Integrity Knight there, even your sister!"

Hearing Yuuki's proposal, Selka became surprised as widened her eyes before Korai spoke up.

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Yuuki?"

"It'll be okay. What Sister Azalea doesn't know won't hurt her. And besides, we need a guide to get there. So, whaddaya say? You in?"

Hearing such an offer being made, Selka felt as though she could finally be free of being viewed as her older sister as she smiled before she spoke.

"Yeah. I'm in."

* * *

The next morning, Yuuki, Korai, Rika, Selka, and Keiko were headed to the End Mountains to find Alice and the Integrity Knight that took her in. Prior to that, the parents spoke with their children about it and told them to tell the others about where they're headed so they could meet up whenever they can. At least, that's what Akihiko and Shiki were told to do. But for Kito and Ayame's case, they're told to keep it quiet in case they were able to help Eugeo fulfill his calling faster. But in any case, Rika simply refused to sit through boredom again. Fortunately, they didn't have to hike nearly as long as they had to watch Eugeo cut down the tree. About an hour and a half since they started, they got to the End Mountains and saw a giant cave with a river heading into it as Rika spoke to Selka.

"Wow. Are you sure _this_ is the End Mountains that Alice walked in with Eugeo?"

"Positive. But we're gonna need some light."

With that, Selka took up a small weed from the ground before she held her fingers up to it and spoke.

"System call. Generate: Luminous element. Adhere."

At that moment, the white tip of the weed began to glow yellow, astounding the group as Keiko spoke up.

"Whoa. What did you just do?"

"Well, I just did a magic spell. Did you forget how Sacred Arts work?"

"Uh... yeah. Maybe."

With that, Selka smiled at her before she led the way deep in the cave as the group followed. As they traversed deep in the chasm, though, they couldn't help but feel the cold temperature beginning to settle in their skins as Yuuki began to shiver before Korai and the others followed.

"Brrr... is it just me, or is it getting chilly in here?"

"I think you might be right, Yuuki. It's getting colder the deeper we go. Alice and Eugeo must've felt that way when they got here."

As they spoke, Selka began to feel the chills herself and shivered before she spoke.

"W-W-We'll j-j-just have... t-to keep m-m-moving. Our bodies should create enough warmth for us to get to the cave."

As they continued onwards into the cave, Selka's theory was proven to be correct as the cold air didn't seem to bother them anymore. And when they finally arrived at the cave, it wasn't difficult for them to take notice of the number of blue crystals and skeletal remains of the dragon as Selka inquired of it to Korai.

"What is that?"

"I think you should be asking what it _was_. Eugeo told us he and Alice found nothing but bones."

At that moment, though, Selka took notice of the gleaming crystals beside it as she spoke of them to Yuuki.

"And those crystals..."

"You think they're the same ones that the Axiom Church uses to communicate with the gods?"

"I don't know. It's my first time seeing any crystal."

As Selka drew near the crystals, Korai thought he heard something shift in place and looked around as Yuuki looked to him.

"Is something wrong, Korai?"

"I don't know... You guys keep an ear out. I'm getting the feeling that we're not alone."

As they kept this in mind with the group nodding, Selka and Rika examined the crystals that glowed in the dark before noticing one that was loose as the former spoke up.

"That's odd. One of them is out of place."

"Well, let's pull it out."

Hearing of this, Selka grew worried as she spoke.

"For real? But—"

"But nothing. What's pulling out one little crystal gonna do?"

Korai immediately knew the answer as he saw a talk, dark figure rising up from the shadows on the other side of the crystal wall as he shouted.

"Selka, Rika! Get down now!"

As they heard Korai's warning, they heard a snarl from above and saw a gigantic, vicious creature preparing to strike before Rika reached by grabbing Selka's waist and jumping off of the crystal wall as its claw barely snatched them with Selka yelping in fear as she and Rika were caught by Korai before he set them down and the group widened their eyes in terror as the full view of the creature was revealed. Its face was brutally contorted to have sharp razors for eyebrows and had no visible eyes with an elongated, pointy nose and sharp teeth, towering at nearly 10 feet with a large set of wings, a tail, and horns on its head. And the creature was walking towards them as Keiko cringed while Korai spoke.

"What the heck is that thing?!"

In response, the creature spoke in a distorted voice as its black saliva dropped from its mouth.

_**Thieves cannot escape the hand of justice! The crystal is mine... never shall I loose my grip!**_

Hearing the words from the creature, Selka, Yuuki, Keiko, Rika, and Korai became perplexed as the younger sister spoke up before him.

"So, you're the guardian of the crystal, then?"

"Don't think so. If it was, Eugeo would've told us about that."

_**The crystal, the light, the power... all of it... MINE!**_

With that, it began to extend a long blade from its wrist, preparing to dissect the group, only to be stopped by another blade as it glowed violet, being held by the very person they sought after: the Integrity Knight as he was known as by Selka. But the others knew who he was as he sported short grey hair and fierce eyes of steeled determination as he pushed the creature back, but he didn't do it alone. For he was joined by two girls in his party: one who had brown hair and hazel eyes, a flute, and a sword as well as another who Eugeo had worked on his calling for ten years to find. Selka seemed to recognize her as she spoke up to her.

"Is that...?"

At that moment, Kirito, Sachi, Shino, Asuna, Suguha, Eugeo, and Gummy entered the cave to see a surprising sight. But it surprised none more than Eugeo as he noticed the person he worked very hard to meet with.

"Alice...?"

As Korai noticed the group's arrival, Alice, the songstress, and the Integrity Knight looked to them before Alice spoke up.

"You guys just let us handle this. We'll protect you."


	5. Departure

**A/N: Hello, everyone. Sorry about the long hiatus. I just didn't know where to take my story for a moment. So I decided to watch most of the english dubbed episodes of Alicization so that I could rework it. That way, I wouldn't rush the story altogether. I don't know when I'll post a new chapter, but either this next chapter or the one after will feature more of Klein and Si-Eun. After all, they might have questions about what's going on as well. Also, Saber will be portrayed by D.C. Douglas, the voice actor for Yoshikage Kira. I honestly wasn't into Jojo before, but listening to him was like listening to an angel. So I decided to give the show a shot, and it's looking great so far. Other than that, there may also be some changes to what I initially had planned, such as having young Akihiko and Shiki having an arc of their own despite their age. I'll let you know what changes to expect and when on the next chapter. Until then, enjoy. :)**

**Chapter 4: **Departure

_**Play Ordinal Scale Music: "The Place We Should Have Reached"**_

In the cave, Alice, the songstress with brown hair, and another Integrity Knight with short grey hair were now confronting the beast guarding the crystal as Korai, Yuuki, Rika, Keiko, and Selka were caught in the fray while Kirito, Eugeo, Asuna, Sachi, and the others watched in surprise at the events that unfolded. As the Integrity Knights stood against the creature, Alice turned to Eugeo before she spoke to him.

"Just keep the children back until it's safe. We can handle this."

Surprised as he was, Eugeo got his focus back and nodded to her before shouting to Selka, Korai, Yuuki, Rika, and Keiko from far away.

"Hey, guys! Come over here where it's safe!"

Knowing their current strength parameters, Korai considered it sound advice as he spoke to the others.

"Well, you heard the man. Let's go!"

As they ran to Kirito, Eugeo, and the others, the beast sensed their movement and roared as it prepared to do away with them. However, before it could strike, the songstress prepared to fire her arrows of light which appeared out of her fingertips before being stretched out to be launched from her bow as she shouted.

"System call! Generate: Luminous element! Arrow-shape! Release!"

As the arrows of light hit the beast, they impaled it, making it screech in pain as black ooze poured out of the wounds. While this occurred, Korai and Yuuki took notice of the attack with amazement as they, Selka, Rika, and Keiko managed to get to the group safely.

"Did you see that, Yuuki?"

"Yeah. Must be part of the Sacred Arts."

With the beast injured, Alice turned to her other compatriot as she spoke.

"Good work, Yuuna. Eiji, move in!"

"Got it."

With that, Eiji held his sword out by his side before it glowed dark purple as he charged towards it. Just when he tried to attack it, however, the beast, blind as it was, merely used its wings to fly up to the ceiling before clutching onto the rock with its talons before screeching, causing the others to block their ears as the loud noise deafened the cave. While this occurred, Kirito began to wonder if it had an ulterior motive as the Ricky spikes above began to fall one by one.

"What is that thing doing?! Taking itself out along with us?!"

Seconds after Kirito said this, the beast ceased its screech. Not long after, dark digital portals began to open on the floor, making Alice, Yuuna, and Eiji weary as they grunted before Kirito, Eugeo, Asuna, and Sachi widened their eyes in terror before seeing tiny monsters with red eyes and grey skin complete with tunics covering their unmentionables as they snickered before Asuna began to wonder what was going on in her mind.

"_What's going on?! Is that thing summoning them here?!"_

In her frozen state of terror, she quickly snapped out of it before going for her sword, only to realize she didn't have one as Eugeo looked to her.

"Asuna, are you okay?"

Seeing his confused expression, Asuna realized her error and spoke to him as she shook her head.

"Yeah. Don't worry about it."

However, with the situation around them, it was hard not to as the Imps headed towards Selka, Yuriko, Kito, Ayame, and the other children as they became fearful before Alice got out her sword and intercepted them as she made her golden sword glow bright yellow before slashing the Imps away in one strike, slicing them while they bled black ooze as she turned to the group behind her.

"What are you waiting for?! You need to get out of here while you can!"

Seeing the distress they're in, Korai didn't think it wise, no matter how strong they were compared to them. He did always act more with his heart than his head. This situation was no different.

"If it's all the same to you, I'll have to deny your order, ma'am!"

With that, Korai ran past Alice as the Imps turned to him, becoming curious as Alice became worried.

"Hey! What are you doing, you idiot?!"

As an answer, Korai taunted the Imps.

"Hey, Goblins! Want some fresh meat?! Come and get it!"

Tempted by his taunts, the Imps began to chase after Korai before he spoke to himself as he ran.

"Okay, they took the bait. Let's hope they can get the hint."

With that, Korai began running from the Imps before shouting to Yuuna.

"Yuuna, line up those arrows! I can't keep it up for long!"

Getting the sense in what Korai was trying to do, she nodded to him before preparing her arrows of light as she spoke again.

"System call! Generate: Luminous element! Scatter release!"

With that, Yuuna fired the many arrows of light at the Imps, getting each and every one of them as they fell dead before Korai stopped his running and took notice of what's happened.

"Alright! Now for the big guy.

As Korai looked up, the beast jumped off the ceiling and landed on the ground before it looked up to the Integrity Knights and Korai as Yuuki spoke to herself.

"You better know what you're doing, Korai."

As the beast looked left and right at them, it began to speak with a distorted voice as its wings extended.

"_**The light... be mine...! MINE!"**_

As the beast shouted this, it lunged at Korai as it ran. Once it took flight to perform a leap, Eiji saw his chance and jumped before using his sword to slice off the wings, rendering the creature flightless before it fell to the floor as Eiji taunted it.

"Try going back on the ceiling now."

As the beast snarled, a dark purple, digital portal suddenly opened under it before it sank into it, completely disappearing before Alice, Yuuna, and Eiji grunted as they had a feeling about what it meant as the first of the three spoke.

"Keep an eye out, everyone. The beast couldn't have gone far."

As they looked around, Alice looked closely on the ground to keep from getting blindsided as the Integrity Knights kept their weapons on hand. While they looked for the beast, Selka noticed a portal opening up behind Alice and tried to get close to her as she shouted.

"Alice! Behind you!"

As Alice turned around at Selka's behest, she took notice of a dark purple, digital portal opening up before she backed up on Instinct, the beast's claw horned with a blade on its wrist barely grabbing her as its long blade only managed to get to the cape before the claw lifted the rest of itself up and was poised to attack with its blade as Alice held her sword out before she shouted.

"Enhance armament!"

With that, her golden sword became a flurry of yellow petals before she swerved them into a slash, cutting off its blade in the process before wounding him on the chest, causing black ooze to spray from the impact before it was knocked to the other side of the cave wall where it collapsed before falling to the floor as Yuuki, Korai, Kirito, Eugeo, Asuna, Sachi, and the others looked on in surprise as such a display.

_**End Ordinal Scale Music: "The Place We Should Have Reached"**_

As the group still stood in surprise with their children becoming awestruck, Akihiko, Shiki, Yuriko, and Karai most of all, Alice walked towards the beast as it tried to speak to her, knowing full well it was on its last legs.

"_**The Dark Empire shall span... all the lands... By the Crystal's Light... we shall flourish... He shall arise... as ruler... of the world!"**_

As Alice heard this, she only gave it a glare as she raised her sword before speaking.

"Not today."

With that, Alice swiftly struck the beast at its head, decapitating it as black blood spurted out from the severed neck before the beast collapsed onto the floor lifeless. As that happened, the mothers that were present in the group tried to cover their children's eyes to refrain them from seeing such a massacre while Eugeo stood with his mouth wide open as he thought to himself.

"_No way... the Integrity Knight. Is that really Alice?"_

Taking notice of his surprise, Rika smiled as she spoke.

"I can see why you like her. She's as tough as nails."

Hearing this, Eugeo began to blush before he turned to her and spoke.

"No way! The Alice I know is kind and sweet."

"Yeah, that was ten years ago. A lot could've happened in that time. Just sayin'."

At that moment, Eiji and Yuuna joined Alice as the former spoke to her before the latter as she sheathed her sword in her scabbard.

"Well, that's one minion down."

"Yeah, but we're still no closer to finding out who its master is than when we started."

"Well, at least we know they're the ones who must've dislodged the crystals. They'll need especially crucial protection."

With that, Korai tried to walk up to Alice in an attempt to thank her for their rescue.

"Hey, listen. Thanks a lot for saving our butts back there. Seriously."

As a reply, however, Alice turned around and showed an angry look.

"That reminds me... why are you even here in the first place?! And during the day of rest? Do you have any idea what could've happened to you?!"

Caught off guard by her suddenly angry tone, Korai tried to explain, but before he could, Selka and Eugeo spoke up for him.

"It's not all his fault. He just wanted to help me find you, Alice."

"It's true. We just wanted to help Selka."

Upon seeing Selka and Eugeo, Alice widened her eyes in surprise before seeing a flash of them from the last time they saw each other with Selka being younger while Eugeo was as he was ten years ago. As she was visited by the people she cared about, Alice's tears began to stream down her face as her lips quivered before Eugeo spoke.

"Hey, Alice? Are you okay?"

Hearing the concern in his voice, Alice wipes the tears from her face before she smiled and replied, surprising him.

"Yes, Eugeo. I'm just fine."

"Wait a minute. You actually remember me?"

"Remember? Hmm. I could never forget you if I tried. But what are you doing here?"

"Oh, yeah. We were here to help Korai and Yuuki look at the End Mountains with Selka to find the Integrity Knight that saved you ten years ago."

"What? You actually went through all that trouble for me?"

As Eugeo replied to Alice's query, he motioned to Korai and Yuuki as he spoke.

"Yeah, and the truth is, I couldn't have done it without Korai and Yuuki as a start."

As they smiled to her, Alice gave Yuuki and Korai a smile back before turning to the latter. With the effort he made to keep her alive, Alice had to admit she was grateful for that. However, her concern over his reckless actions still left her worried as she spoke to him.

"Korai, is it?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"I appreciate what you've done to help me, but the next time you wish to put yourself at risk on my behalf, at least warn me. You nearly gave me a heart attack."

Knowing how base the Imps were, even if he and the others were no better, Korai didn't consider them as big a threat as the beast that now lies beheaded. Nonetheless, he didn't want another of her signature flares as he spoke nervously while Yuuki giggled at his tone before he got to the heart of the matter with Alice.

"Okay. I'll keep that in mind. But just out of curiosity, what are _you _guys doing here?"

To answer, Yuuna piped up as she walked to be beside Alice along with Eiji.

"Well, duh! Isn't it obvious? We're protecting the crystals."

This made Korai, Yuuki, Selka, Rika, and Keiko widen their eyes in surprise before the third of the group spoke up to Alice.

"Protecting... the crystals? There's more than one?"

"That's right. Eiji, can you see if you can push it back in?"

"I'll try."

With that, Eiji jumped off to where a piece of it was sticking out and pushed it back in, the action of which took great effort. Apparently, they were heavy, even for the Integrity Knights. Despite this, Eiji successfully pushed it in before he turned to Alice and spoke.

"It's back in place. I swear it's getting harder and harder these days."

Knowing how exhausted they must be, Sachi spoke up in the group as she knew how to fix one problem.

"Oh. You wouldn't happen to be hungry, would you?"

As an answer, Alice's stomach grumbled before she blushed before she looked to Sachi and spoke.

"What do you have in mind?"

* * *

Later, Kirito, Asuna, Sachi, Shino, Rika, Keiko, Suguha, Yuuki, Korai, their children, Eugeo, Selka, and the Integrity Knights were back at the forest where Eugeo would usually work on his calling while they had a picnic as Gummy chowed down on the bread as the kids played tag on the grass (with the exception of Yuriko, Shiki, Akihiko, and Karai, who sat in their mothers' laps) while the grownups sat down and talked with each other with Alice talking to Eugeo.

"So that's why the Blue Rose Sword was missing. I've been wondering about that, but honestly I had a feeling it was you."

"Yeah. Didn't really get around to using it until yesterday, though. And even then, I think a lost a bit of my life from that swing."

This made Alice a bit worried, thinking how hard Eugeo must've fallen to the ground before she spoke to him.

"Well, what did you expect? The Blue Rose Sword can't be wielded by just anyone; it's a Divine Object."

"Yeah, I know that now. But you should've seen Korai here."

Hearing him say his name, Korai became flabbergasted as Eugeo spoke.

"One time he swung that sword at the Demon Tree, his whole body shook like a leaf."

"Hey! It's not my fault that sword's so heavy!"

Hearing a certain context in the sentence, Alice became confused as she spoke.

"Wait. Wasn't that _your_ calling to chop down the Demon Tree?"

"Yeah, but there's no law in the Taboo Index that said people can't help out."

"Hmm. I see."

With that topic out of the way, Selka was curious about the Crystal's importance before Alice explained.

"So, what's important about the crystal in the cave? Is it special?"

"That's right. When you got here, it was close to being dislodged already, wasn't it?"

"Well, of course. But why?"

"Because we found out that someone was trying to remove it so that he could use it for his own purposes."

This made Eugeo speak up in surprise.

"But why? Isn't the crystal used to communicate with the gods?"

"Not this one. It's a border crystal."

This made Korai curious as he spoke up to her.

"Border crystal? You mean there's more than one type?"

"Precisely. Believe it or not, there are actually four different types of crystals created from the main crystal the gods gifted to us. You've seen one of them, the border crystal. It creates a barrier between the Human Empire and the Dark Territory to help enforce the law of staying away from the latter. But as you've noticed, it's starting to give way, just like countless others."

This confused Rika as she spoke to Yuuna and Eiji.

"You mean you guys didn't try just pushing it in place before now?"

"We have. But each time, another border crystal would get dislodged. When that happens, anyone in the Human Empire would go in the Dark Territory, or worse yet, the other way around."

"And it's been happening all over, too. We kept a good pace for the past seven or eight years, but soon, because we were spread so thin, those in the Dark Territory found loopholes and exploited them."

This caused Eugeo to raise his eyebrows in realization. With the recent rise in deaths for the past two or three years, it all made sense.

"So it _was _the Goblins, then."

As an answer, Alice shook her head before she spoke to Eugeo as a flashback of when the greedy beast summoned countless portals to call forth Imps before using one itself.

"Not quite. The Dark Territory has recently acquired a Sacred Art called 'warping.' So far, it's only been taught to beasts and Imps."

This got the group caught unawares as they widened their eyes before Kirito spoke up to Alice.

"Wait, they can use it, too?"

"To an extent, yes. But still... this shouldn't be possible. The creatures of the Dark Territory shouldn't have been able to learn the Sacred Arts."

This made Korai raise his eyes in surprise before recognizing the threat he was sent to confront: the Sorcerer. Somehow or another, he must've known about the Sacred Arts and taught them to the creatures in the Dark Territory. He must be creating an army to help him overtake this world and the real one. If that were to happen, the Sorcerer's goals, whatever they were, would finally be achieved. And there was no chance in the Underworld that he'd ever let it happen. To stop him, he'd have to use any and all available resources in the Underworld to do so, thus he turned to Alice and spoke to her.

"So, you said one of the four were border crystals. What were the other three?"

As an answer, Alice looked to Korai before she spoke.

"Hmm? Oh! Right. As I said, one of them is a border crystal. Another are item crystals to help you recover your life in dire situations. Thirdly, you have crystals that can help you create weapons in blacksmithing, even Divine Objects. And finally, there are crystals that can allow you to communicate with the gods directly... by way of either speaking to them through it, or by entering their world"

This got Korai and Yuuki's attention as they widened their eyes before they reacted before Yuuna and Eiji held out a crystal in their hands as the former spoke.

"Yep. It's true. In fact, Eiji and I have them."

As they showed the crystals to the group, Keiko was amazed Rika while became flabbergasted as Eugeo spoke to her.

"Do you have a crystal like that, Alice?"

"Not really. For whatever reason, those crystals were given out to a select few. Those few are the ones lucky enough to find one like those and are said to be destined for greatness."

As it piqued the group's curiosity, Korai knew it must've made sense. After all, the world may be breathtaking, but anyone could only stay in there for so long. Kikuoka must've created them so that anyone who worked with him wouldn't suffer any form of whiplash through unforeseen events such as a power outage. Who knows what could happen as a result in that scenario? And it must be that the crystals only work for those 'chosen few' to keep any artificial fluctlight from taking over their bodies. Or intruders like the Sorcerer. Speaking of, he recalled what the creature in the cave said as he spoke.

"Alice? I don't mean to change topics, but you said you guys were stretched thin while the Dark Empire exploited that, right? Do you know someone there that could be responsible for that?"

Hearing that inquiry, Alice gave him a reply as she looked to him.

"Can't say that I do. But if I were to guess, I'd say it must've been that beast's Master."

Hearing this, Suguha spoke to her, wondering if she happened to know the name.

"Do you know who he is?"

"Not really. Along with how he's managed to teach the minions about warping, that's the one thing we don't know. That is, until now. Yuuna just returned from her visit to the gods with dire news. Recently, someone known as the Sorcerer was spotted intruding in Centoria about three months ago."

Upon hearing this, Korai became confused as he recalled Eiji saying they had about two or three years in deaths as he spoke up.

"Wait, three months? Didn't you guys say it went on for three years?"

"That's right, but him being spotted that long ago could only tell so much. We don't know if he's the one responsible for it, but we're leaning towards that possibility."

This made Korai think to himself about the situation.

"_I hate to admit it, but she might be right. If he only showed up three months ago as opposed to three years, someone else might be stretching the Integrity Knights as thin as paper. But who else could it be?"_

With that, he remembered someone who came close to taking Yuuki's life in GGO as he remembered what he said to her, about her soul. And judging from that phrasing, Korai could immediately guess that somehow he knew about the fluctlights as he thought of him while he tensed.

"_Oh. Right. That Subtilizer guy. He must've known about the Soul Translator, somehow. Maybe he's the one calling the shots? And he also knew about me. I'm starting to think that face-to-face wasn't a coincidence, after all."_

Just then, he heard Alice's voice speak up as she, Eiji, and Yuuna stood up.

"Well, thanks for the meal, Sachi. But we need to press onward."

"It's okay. Iunderstand."

As they started to walk away, however, Eugeo became desperate as he widened his eyes before he piped up.

"Hey, wait!"

Hearing his voice, Alice turned to Eugeo in a puzzled expression before she spoke to him.

"Yes, Eugeo?"

"Do you really have to go so soon? It's a day of rest, after all."

As an answer, Alice turned to him and spoke.

"It is, but we were just here on emergency. And the situation's been dealt with. I honestly don't see any reason to stay here any longer."

"Not even to catch up?"

Hearing this from Eugeo, Alice widened her eyes in realization. During her time at Centoria, there were times she never thought she'd see Eugeo in the line of duty. And so, while she didn't forget about him, she denied herself the opportunity to see him. Now, here she was with opportunity staring right in front of her. If it happened about a month later, then she surely would've accepted. But with how long she'd been gone, she knew that everything she went through in those ten years would take up a whole day just to explain it. And then, she would be denied any chance of seeing him again.

Of course, she didn't want to hurt his feelings, so she had an idea to fix that. If she couldn't come to him, maybe he'd come to her. And there's only one way to guarantee that.

"Eugeo... I wish I could stay for that, but it'd take up the whole day just to explain what I've been through."

"Oh. I understand."

"Although... there's time for us to begin your training."

Hearing this, Eugeo became confused as he spoke before Alice replied with a smile.

"Huh? Training?"

"Before we leave, I'll be willing to grant you one short lesson in sword fighting."

Hearing this, Eugeo became flabbergasted as he widened his eyes before Rika smirked as she spoke in a sing-song voice, making Eugeo blush madly before Rika tried to put a stop to it gently.

"Ooh! Someone's got a date..."

"I don't think you're helping, Rika."

As Alice took notice of this, she cleared her throat before Eugeo came back to his senses.

"Oh! Sorry. Did I hear you right? You said that you'd train me?"

"That's right. And I'm aware that Korai and Kirito tried to help you on your calling, but they weren't exactly in any position since their experience is no better than yours."

This made the two of them blanch at her comment before Asuna and Yuuki spoke in admittance, much to the husbands' dismay.

"Well, she does have a point."

"Gotta give her credit."

"Hey!"

As Kirito and Korai acted defensively, Alice went on as she spoke.

"Anyway, you're going to need swords you can lift for the time being. Yuuna."

Sensing what Alice was getting at, Yuuna was all in for it as she spoke.

"I gotcha covered."

With that, she got out her satchel and opened it up to reveal several standard swords inside it before Alice got four of them out and handed them to Kirito, Yuuki, Asuna, and Korai. It was clear from Eugeo's description that they helped out Eugeo with his calling, so she felt it fitting to help them out as well. As they got their weapons drawn out, Alice was standing in place at the ground while she spoke as Asuna, Sachi, Shino, Rika, Keiko, Suguha, their children, Selka, and Gummy watched on the grass.

"Alright. If you were helping Eugeo out with the Demon Tree, then you must know the proper way to swing your sword. But that's only the beginning. It takes decisive instinct in the heat of battle, strategic thinking, and well-timed execution, as you've witnessed. But for this lesson, we'll repeat what you've attempted on the Gigas Cedar. And instead of attacking it... you'll be coming at me with everything you have. With your current strength, you won't have to defeat me, but if you should happen to pressure me enough, I'll be forced to act on the defensive. Any questions?"

As an answer, Eugeo raised his hand up before she turned to him.

"Yes?"

"I just realized something. How come we're doing this in the day of rest? Isn't it against the Taboo Index to be working on that day?"

As an answer, Alice replied with a smile.

"For today, I decided not to look at training as work. Just as a way to show you what I learned."

"Oh. Well, I guess it's not really work, then, is it?"

"No. Now to select my partner. And to that end... I choose you, Eugeo."

As he was called out, Eugeo began to get caught by surprise as he spoke.

"Huh? Me?"

"Yes. Please come over."

"Uh, yeah! Okay..."

As the group watched the training go down, Rika became confused as to what they're watching as she spoke to Asuna.

"Okay, I'll bite. What are we doing again?"

"Isn't it obvious? We're watching them train."

"And how is that any different from watching the guys chop away at some giant tree?"

As an answer, Shino piped up while holding Ashi on her lap.

"Because they'll actually get stronger with each hit they make."

This piqued Rika's curiosity as she blinked her eyes while speaking.

"Huh? And how do you know that?"

"I gamed out what Alice was trying to do some time ago. She's trying to get Eugeo strong enough to fulfill his calling. After that, he's free as a bird, and that means he'll be with Alice."

"Oh, yeah! And we won't have to watch him chop at that tree with no effect!"

"Exactly."

"About time."

As Shino and Rika's conversation went on, Akihiko and Shiki were carefully fixating their gaze on the training session as Alice spoke to Eugeo, who was aquiver with anticipation and fear of what he'd do to Alice as she took notice.

"You do remember how to swing a sword, right?"

"Yeah. Of course, I do."

As he shook, Alice figured out what must be going on in his head as she smiled while shaking her head as she spoke.

"Oh, what am I going to do with you? Honestly..."

With that, she walked over to Eugeo before she placed her hands on his arms before smoothing them out as she spoke.

"Calm yourself down a little. That shaking will prevent you from being able to relax and swing your sword properly. That's why it's important to keep a level head in battle. Do you understand?"

"I understand that, but what's gonna happen if I—?"

"You don't have to worry, Eugeo. With your parameters, you won't be able to hurt me. Just think of it like we were sword fighting when we were kids."

"But you never wanted to play sword fighting back then."

"Well, just imagine I did. It'll help your mood."

As Eugeo tried his best to do so, it was admittedly a hard thing to imagine, but sure enough, he could picture himself making time to play sword fighting with her as the thought of spending one more moment with Alice made him smile and relax as he spoke to her while she walked backwards before resuming her stance.

"Oh... I get it now. Thanks."

"My pleasure. Now come at me."

As Alice resumed her position, Eugeo smiled as he held his sword at the ready before picturing her in her cute, little blue dress and white apron, holding a toy sword in front of her before picturing himself as a young child as he pulled it back before charging it in a bright blue light, surprising the group that watched as he shouted.

"En garde!"

With that, Eugeo swung his sword at Alice before it collided with hers, sending a tremor of wind across the plains causing most of the group to brace themselves in the blowout while Akihiko and Shiki sat unfazed by the wind as they looked on in amazement. For whatever reason, seeing Eugeo's display lit a fire in the twins they didn't know they had. The exhilaration, the adrenaline, everything about sword fighting was now taking priority in their lives as the thrill of it all was too great to ignore. As for Eugeo, he withstood the force of such a powerful blow and was surprised to know how much he actually moved Alice as he noticed tracks on the ground that lasted several inches as the grooves were laid bare for all to see. Upon seeing this, Eugeo was taken by surprise before he looked to her with a smile he always had when he was little as Selka noticed it and smiled back before Alice spoke up while they drew their swords back

"That's enough for now. Not bad, Eugeo. I could hardly believe that's actually your first time wielding a sword."

"I know. I couldn't believe it, either."

As Korai, Yuuki, and Kirito took notice of the scene, with the last two showing surprise, the first of the three began to realize that Alice may have been right about their experience as he thought to himself.

"_Whoa. A powerful technique like that, and she only moved a few inches? Those Integrity Knights, whoever they are... they must be on a completely different level than us. We still have a long way to go."_

With that, Alice turned to the two before she spoke.

"Alright. Next, we'll work on your swings with Eiji, and then we'll see where you can improve."

* * *

As time went on, Yuuki went against Alice, making a slightly better improvement than Eugeo's strike as she was backed up by several inches more, making a total of seven inches over Eugeo's four. When Korai and Kirito tried their strikes on Eiji, the result was five inches on both of them. At first, Eugeo was disappointed by his progress, but he was told that even Alice had a higher defense than he did, so the fact that he was at four inches with her was bittersweet to say the least. As the trainees got tallied down on their strikes, the group that watched them continued their vigil, although most were getting tired with the exception of Selka, Akihiko, Yuriko, and Shiki. By the time they finished their lesson, it was getting close to sundown as Alice spoke to them with Eugeo responding.

"And that's it for today."

"Already? Time really flies when you're having fun, huh?"

"Indeed."

As Alice looked to the impending sunset, she had a hope that the effort she put into their training would work out. On the off chance it doesn't, Alice didn't feel right to say goodbye to him in case she doesn't see him again as she spoke.

"Listen, Eugeo?"

"Yeah?"

"In case we don't see each other again after this... I want to thank you."

"Huh? Thank me for what?"

"For spending this day of rest with me. I know I must've worked you pretty hard with those strikes."

"It's more than alright, Alice. As long as I know you're okay, that means we'll see each other again. At least, I hope I do."

"Yes. Me, too."

With that, Alice looked to the group beside Eugeo before she spoke.

"And until we do, can I ask you to stay with Eugeo and keep him safe?"

As they looked to him, Kirito, Korai, and Yuuki could tell that she'd want to be with him for a long time as they nodded while Kirito spoke.

"Sure thing. We'll make sure he gets by just fine."

Grateful for their answer, Alice smiled back at them before she spoke.

"Thank you all. We'll see you soon."

With that, Alice bowed to them before she walked away with a smile as Eiji and Yuuna followed while looking back at the group to Korai and Yuuki as they spoke.

"Just try not to take too long."

"We could always use the extra help."

"We'll keep that in mind."

"Take care of yourselves until then!"

With that, the trio of Integrity Knights walked towards the sunset, eagerly awaiting for the next time they meet again...

* * *

The next morning, Eugeo was chopping away at the Gigas Cedar as Korai looked at his Stacia Window and saw his object control level was different from when he looked at it before. When he first got here, it was at level one, but thanks to Alice's training, it got higher up. Eugeo didn't seem to know about that as he swung his axe at the tree as Yuuki, Kirito, Asuna, Suguha, Rika, Keiko, Shino, Akihiko, Shiki, and Gummy watched while Ashi, Ayame, Yuriko, Kito, and the others played in the grass.

"Fifty!"

With that, he struck another futile blow in the tree as he panted before Rika, who was impatiently watching Eugeo since the beginning of the morning, spoke to him, having had enough of futility as she spoke.

"Okay, how long is it gonna take before you realize?!"

"Huh? Realize what?"

"Uh, duh! Alice trained you yesterday, so you don't need that axe!"

"Huh? Oh. You mean my Blue Rose Sword."

"Yeah! Why ain't ya using it?!"

"Last time I tried lifting it, I was barely able to stand."

This made Korai look to the two before he picked up the Blue Rose Sword and stood up as he spoke.

"About that... I don't think Alice wanted you to be stuck here, either."

As he saw him holding the sword as well as making swift slices, Eugeo widened his eyes before he and Yuuki spoke up as Rika pointed out the obvious.

"Y-You can... you can wield the sword?!"

"Whoa! It's not so heavy anymore!"

"Don't you see?! Alice was training you to wield that thing this whole time!"

Knowing Rika's made her point well enough, Korai smiled as he spoke.

"Yeah, I think he got the hint, Rika. By the way, you guys might wanna stand back."

With that, everyone complied to do so before Akihiko shouted to the others, knowing what's going to happen.

"Guys! Dad's going to take a big swing with the sword again!"

Normally, it wouldn't have attracted too much attention from his friends, but when it came to the sword, Akihiko knew it'd be a better result. And so, they gathered around him and Shiki while it glowed bright blue before he shouted at the top of his lungs as he made a big slash on the tree as a big gap can be seen, surprising the group as well as Eugeo, who stood stupefied before Rika winked her eyes, hoping he got the message.

"Now do you get it?"

When he didn't answer, Korai walked up to Eugeo and handed the sword to him as he spoke.

"Well, why don't _you _try it?"

As he handed the sword to Eugeo, Korai took his steps back before the young boy pointed it at the Demon Tree as Akihiko, Shiki, Yuriko, Asuna, Suguha, and the others wondered what must be going through his head. Little did they know that he was actually thinking about what Alice told him yesterday as it echoed in his mind.

"_In case we don't see each other again after this... I want to thank you."_

Before now, Eugeo thought he knew why Alice told him this. He assumed it was because she would be too busy to hang out with him. And if they hadn't seen each other that day, it would've been the case. But thanks to their meeting— no. Thanks to Korai and Yuuki, Eugeo got his next chance. Soon, he'll be with her again with the effort she put into making him stronger. A debt he wished to repay as he knew that Korai, Yuuki, and Kirito would be by his side.

"Kirito. Korai. Yuuki. Will you...?"

When he tried to work up the nerve, Eugeo only tensed his hand on the sword before he spoke.

"Will you teach me to use a sword, and finish what Alice started?"

Upon being asked that, the group became confused as Yuuki spoke.

"Well, yeah, of course. But why ask?"

"Alice put in all that effort to make me get stronger and improve my control capability. I won't let that go to waste. Besides, Alice and her family have sacrificed so much, all because of me. It's not right for me not to do my part..."

This made Kirito understand Eugeo more as he spoke in understanding.

"Eugeo..."

With that, Kirito smiled at him, proud of his determination before he spoke.

"Alright, then. You're on. I'll teach you everything I know. But the training's gonna be tough, though."

"That's what I'm hoping."

This made Asuna, Sachi, and Suguha smile at the group before Eugeo realized what style they primarily use as he spoke.

"Oh, right. Before we start, do you remember what your sword styles were called?"

This made the three of them ponder a bit more before Korai and Yuuki answered.

"Oh, well my main style was actually... the Kayaba Style."

"And for me, it's Rosario style. What about you, Kirito? Remember your style yet?"

This made him smile before he answered.

"Yeah, I remember. It's called the Aincrad Style."

With what's about to go down, Yuuki smiled as she spoke.

"Alright! Let the training begin!"

* * *

With that, as time went on, Kirito trained with Eugeo at sunset as they swung their swords in consistent and similar strikes as Asuna, Yuriko, Akihiko, Shiki, Korai and Yuuki watched before on the rain, it was Yuuki's turn to test Eugeo out as she and him clashed with lightning striking the clouds, making Akihiko and Shiki admittedly nervous before Korai held them close to his chest while Shino and Ashi watched with them. Next, in the sunny day, Korai and Eugeo were slashing the Gigas Cedar, creating numerous slashes on it on their own turn as Kirito, Yuuki, Sachi, Suguha, Karai, and Saki watched the scene.

Finally, it came down to the last swing. The Demon Tree was now at 6,738 out of 320,826. With how long aeugeo worked on it his whole life, Kirito, Korai, and Yuuki felt as though it was fitting for Eugeo to end it himself as the first of the three spoke.

"Alright, Eugeo. Finish it."

With that, he nodded before Eugeo took his stance and charged the Blue Rose Sword before taking a step and swinging with all his light as he shouted before cleaving through the Demon Tree completely, causing it to fall. Unbeknownst to him, the people at Rulid village began to notice the Demon Tree falling down.

"Hey, lookit!"

"At what?"

As the tree fell and caused a great amount of dust to emerge from it, it parted away to reveal a fallen tree and a stump where it once stood as Eugeo spoke to himself, amazed at the miracle he pulled off as he turned to Korai, Yuuki, and Kirito.

"This is like a dream. I never thought this day would come. I didn't believe in destiny before, but now... Kirito, Korai, Yuuki, fulfilling my calling wasn't my destiny. For the past ten years, I've been waiting for you guys to come."

In a way, it made sense to Korai as he spoke.

"Yeah. Maybe you were. And at the same time, maybe we woke up here so we could meet you..."

* * *

Later, at night, Rulid Village was celebrating the fall of the Demon Tree as a great feast was held while Kirito danced with Asuna, Suguha, Sachi, Shino, Rika, and Keiko (although not all at once) as Korai, Yuuki, Akihiko, and Shiki enjoyed the food they were blessed with as they had roasted meat before Selka spoke up to them.

"Why are you guys alone?"

Hearing her voice, the four of them turned to her before the husband spoke.

"Oh. Well, Kirito's hanging out with his friends. And Eugeo's with your father talking about stuff."

"Oh. I see. I'm sure he's getting lots of well-deserved praise for chopping down the Demon Tree."

At that moment, Yuuki spoke to her next.

"Well, he should! After all the effort he put into it, he deserves it big time. What about you, though?"

"I decided to study harder, so I can be as good as the Sacred Arts my sister was. Mmm, not so I can be like her, mind you."

"Yeah, I figured. Good for you, though."

Just then, the village chief of Rulid spoke up to the populace, getting their attention.

"May I have your attention, please? The greatest wish of Rulid's founders has been fulfilled. The Demon Tree has been felled at last!"

As the crowd cheered at such an occasion, the chief smiled to Eugeo before he spoke again.

"Let us all give thanks to Eugeo, son of Ulric!"

As the crowd applauded, Chief Zuberg spoke again to remind them of what comes next.

"According to the laws, when one finishes their calling, they have earned the right to choose what their next calling will be. Go ahead, Eugeo. Make your choice."

As Eugeo looked around at the crowd, all eyes on him, he knew his adamant decision and made it loud and clear as he spoke.

"I will become a swordsman! I shall train hard and journey to Centoria."

This caught the chief and the crowd by surprise before he spoke.

"Eugeo. What could you possibly... no. I won't question you. It is your church-given right to choose your next calling. As Rulid's elder, I approve Eugeo's new calling as swordsman!"

As Chief Zuberg announced it and declared it, the crowd cheered while Kirito, Yuuki, Korai, and Selka smiled along with Asuna, Sachi, Suguha, Shino, and the others. Little did they know that as they celebrated Eugeo's new calling, a figure in a white hooded cloak with long raven hair and blue eyes watched from afar as he smiled before he spoke while gazing to Korai.

"It's so touching to see young men grow on their own. Especially this one..."

* * *

The next morning, Selka was pulling the bucket back up from the well before Eugeo spoke up to her.

"Selka."

"Eugeo..."

"Before I go, I wanted to tell you something."

"Oh? What is it?"

"My goal... is to go to Centoria and help Alice fight the Dark Territory."

"I thought so."

"For the past ten years, it's all I've been thinking about. But, with my calling, I had no idea how to go about it. Then Kirito, Korai, Yuuki, and the others suddenly showed up. Then being there for Alice didn't seem so hopeless anymore. For some reason, I feel like I could do anything with them around. You and your family have already sacrificed so much, all on account of me. So, I'll pay you guys back and make things right. Have faith in me, and wait for our return."

As Eugeo said this, it made Selka shed small tears before she spoke.

"Well, I can't stop you, but if you insist..."

"I do."

At that moment, Selka couldn't help but smile as she spoke.

"Okay. I shall wait. Just make sure you guys come back."

"Mm-hmm. I'll make sure we all come back safe. Promise."

"Good luck."

What they didn't realize was at that moment, Korai was listening to every word they said. And while it should've been a heartfelt moment... he felt discontent. As if worrying about Yuuki's safety wasn't enough, now he's got Eugeo to worry about as well. With what he's seen, it's no different from SAO, but the danger of the Sorcerer is as ominous as ever. As long as he's around, no amount of promises will keep him alive long enough to come back safe. However, that's all the more reason why he's here, too, as he spoke to himself.

"_I'll make sure he keeps his promise, Selka. I swear it."_

* * *

Later, the group was waiting for Eugeo to show up as the adults had their packs while the children waited by their mothers' sides before Akihiko noticed him as he spoke up.

"Look, Dad. It's Eugeo."

"Hmm?"

As they turned to him, Eugeo spoke up to Korai.

"Sorry to keep you guys waiting."

"Nah, it's okay."

Rika, however, felt the opposite.

"Well, you oughta be. I've had enough waiting for a lifetime, thank you very much."

As Rika muttered to herself, the others couldn't help but laugh before Eugeo spoke to Yuuki.

"Well, are you guys ready?"

"Yep."

As they all walked out of Rulid Village, they walked on the path in front of them as Gummy peeked out of Sachi's shirt and looked at Akihiko and Shiki just in front of it before the former spoke.

"Hi, little guy. Having fun up there?"

As an answer, it gave a squeak to him before he spoke with a smile.

"Yeah. I thought so."

As they walked, Eugeo spoke to Korai about their destination.

"I wonder what Centoria will be like."

"Who knows? But at least we know it'll be way bigger than Rulid Village."

"I certainly hope so."

Just then, they felt a wind coming from in front of them as they noticed a thunderstorm in front of them before Eugeo spoke up.

"Looks like a storm's coming. We should hurry before we get caught in it."

"Yeah. Good idea."

As they looked at the clouds, Shiki couldn't help but become frightened of lightning striking the clouds as she quivered before Yuuki brushed her hair back as she spoke.

"It's okay. As long as we keep moving, we'll be out of its way."

While Shiki hugged her mother, Yuuki looked to Korai, more than willing to keep her own promise to Korai.

"So, you ready to go, Korai?"

As Korai remembered everything he'd done in SAO both good and bad, he gave a determined look at the clouds before answering.

"Ready as I'll ever be..."


	6. Explanation

**Chapter 5: **Explanation

**June 29th, 2026**

As the sun rose up, Klein and Shi-Eun were sleeping in the same bed, the both of them under the blanket as their natural bodies took shelter in it. It had been nearly over a month since the two of them were officially a couple. Although, they weren't quite in a position to be married just yet with the groom's housing proving to be lackluster. Despite it, they loved each other all the same. And all it took was a moment (even in the midst of a war with Laughing Coffin) for them to click in place.

As they continued to be together, however, Klein found himself unable to pay his bills and ended up evicted. When Shi-Eun heard about the incident, she offered him a place to stay: her house. Since then, Klein was trying as hard as he could to find work to repay his debt to him. When the stress of being able to make it right to her got to him through several rejected offers, Klein was ready to call it quits and pack it up. However, Shi-Eun wasn't blind to what he wanted to do and the pain it was causing him. In an attempt to relieve Klein of this, Shi-Eun was willing to give herself to him. And it worked.

The next morning, Klein was feeling much better as opposed to the night before. The comfort she gave him must've helped him ease the tension he's faced with. And from how long he'd been working just to find work, he needed that. So, you can imagine his great relief as he and Shi-Eun opened their eyes and saw each other as they smiled before the former spoke first.

"Hey, Shi-Eun."

"Are you feeling better, Klein?"

"Very. Thanks a lot. Seriously. I just wish we could keep doing that."

This gave Shi-Eun an idea as she sat up before she spoke.

"Who said we'd stop at that night?"

This made Klein raise his eyes in curiosity before she looked to the bathroom just down the hall.

"Huh?"

"My legs are still asleep from last night. I hope you don't mind carrying me over to the bathroom to shower. I just don't want to be a burden to you, especially with what you've been through the past month already."

This made Klein smile as he knew what she was getting at. Perhaps it was in case he still felt stressed in the morning. Or maybe she didn't get enough of their time together. Whatever the case, Klein took his turn to sit up and spoke to Shi-Eun.

"And here I thought _I _was the one worrying about that. Of course I'll take you there."

"Really?"

"Yeah. But, uh, just in case your arms are sleepy, too..."

With that, Klein gently placed his hands on her hips before moving towards her as she wrapped her hands around his neck before he lifted her up and inserted his penis into his vagina before standing up as Shi-Eun moaned in the bliss of its pleasures while leaning her head on him, trying to resist the urge to release as well as the urge to make him release before he spoke, making her look up to him.

"There we go. Now that you're all buckled up, this train is leaving the station. Choo-choo!"

As a result, Shi-Eun began to laugh at Klein's wordplay as she spoke, engaging in the banter herself.

"Let's hope it won't be too long of a trip."

"Don't worry. The warm springs of lavatoria are just around the corner, for you especially."

In the shower, as the water was running, Shi-Eun couldn't withstand the urge any more than she was able and gave him a warning about what she was about to do as she looked up at him with evident signs of increasing lust.

"I don't think I can stave it off any longer, Klein. I want to have more of you inside me..."

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

With that, Shi-Eun began to rapidly adjust her position back and forth vertically, using Klein's rod as a sort of back scratcher, in which case her itch would be all over the inside of her region as she felt its motions bumping her up each time she went down as Klein's rod began to get close to a release rapidly. As the pleasure of it filled her mind full, Shi-Eun began acting on her instinct to procreate as her moans rose and lowered with each time she went up and down before Klein felt the pressure of it all overflowing.

"Oh, boy. Here we go again, Shi-Eun! I'm gonna do it!"

"Go ahead! I can take it! I can take it all!"

In a few seconds since her word passed through the air, Klein released his liquid essence into her, directly into her womb as it filled up like a water balloon as they moaned before a part of the essence managed to escape and go out the way it came as it leaked out of her throbbing vagina while they panted for air as Shi-Eun looked to him and spoke softly.

"Look at that. You came inside me twice, now... Maybe we'll have some children this time."

This made Klein freeze up a moment in shock. To be frank, he wasn't sure he's at a level of being a father yet, especially not with his line of work, of which he had none. Upon seeing his shaken look, Shi-Eun brushed her hand on his face and soothed him before she spoke.

"Don't worry. As long as you're there for them, like you always are for me, I know you'll be a great father, just as you're a great friend."

As Shi-Eun's smiling face looked back at him, Klein found himself unable to look away, like he was in a trance. And what she said was true. He was always there for her, ever since that night at Yokohama. And as he was reminded of it, he smiled back before he spoke.

"Thanks, Shi-Eun. I appreciate it."

As she nodded, Klein and Shi-Eun leaned to kiss each other in the lips as the sunlight shone on them.

* * *

Later, Klein and Shi-Eun were at the table as the latter was preparing scrambled eggs as she hummed while Klein looked at his phone, seeing where he could find a job in his area with the same amount of luck as before as he mumbled.

"Seriously? Zilch again? I bet Korai never had to worry about finding work."

As he said his name, Klein realized that he hadn't heard from Korai or Yuuki at all yesterday. In fact, he didn't hear from Kirito either. Maybe his stress from failing to find work made him oblivious, but the fact that he didn't see or hear from them made him worried as Shi-Eun spoke up to him while she set the eggs on a plate and put it in front of him before setting her plate beside his and sat down beside him.

"Your breakfast is ready."

"Great. Thanks."

As they dined on their food, Klein felt the need to ask about whether or not she heard from her friend recently.

"Hey, Shi-Eun. You didn't happen to hear from Yuuki, did you?"

Upon hearing this, Shi-Eun widened her eyes before she replied while looking to him.

"Now that you mention it, I haven't. I tried to call her just last night, but I didn't get a call back."

This gave Klein food for thought. If he didn't hear from Korai or Kirito and she didn't hear from Yuuki, there'd only be one possibility: Laughing Coffin. Given their role in its defeat, it's most likely that one of their own managed to escape and dole out revenge against them. On top of that, they encountered a group of P. 's that worked a similar way. They must've gotten their addresses and ambushed them. However, just thinking about what could've happened to them was beginning to add to the stress, and for the worst.

Normally, Klein was always laid back, but since the stand at Yokohama, he realized he needed to be on his toes, act as if every moment was his last. It was partly what motivated him to be with Shi-Eun as she tried to recover, and why he needed to be his own man and find serious work. And now that he's just realized what could've happened, Klein was beginning to have an upset stomach from that possibility, but he didn't want Shi-Eun to worry about him any more than she did the night before, especially with what she did to help him calm down. Before it could get worse, Klein heard the phone ring in his pocket, stirring him out of his fear-driven train of thought and making Shi-Eun curious as she spoke.

"That's odd. Who could be calling us at this hour?"

As Klein looked at his phone, he saw the face of the man who talked it up with Korai and Yuuki at their wedding day before he spoke.

"I think I know who."

With that, Klein didn't hesitate to answer and put it on speaker, hoping that he knew what happened to them as he spoke.

"Hello?"

"Hello. This is Klein, right?"

"Yeah. Shi-Eun's here, too."

"I know you must be worried about where your friends are by now."

"Heck, Yeah. You wouldn't happen to know where Kiri-dude and the others are, would you?"

"Actually, I do. They're with me and the SDF."

Hearing this, it made Klein surprised as he widened his eyes before he dawned on a worst-case scenario.

"So _you're _the one who captured them!"

"I didn't _capture _them, Klein. I _recruited _them. And Kirito and the others, too."

This confused Klein as he recalled what he saw at their wedding reception.

"But I only saw you chatting it up with Korai and Yuuki before."

"Yes, but the husband told me to bring everyone into the loop. I assumed you'd be with them, but I was surprised to notice you were missing."

This made Klein dumbfounded as he spoke.

"What? You mean that while I've been working my butt off trying to look for a job, I could've gone with you guys and save myself the trouble?"

"Actually, that was on me. I honestly thought you were a student like the others."

"So because of that mix-up, I didn't go?"

"Basically. But it's being fixed as we speak. A ride is being sent your way, soon. He just needs the address, and then he'll take you."

Knowing better than to just blatantly give out the address, Klein found it difficult to believe in that.

"That's all, huh?"

"That's right. I know it's unconventional, but it's the quietest way to get transported."

This made Klein uneasy as he found it best to consult with Shi-Eun.

"Alright... what do you think?"

With that, he looked to Shi-Eun, wondering what she'd think about doing so. To answer his silent query on her permission, Shi-Eun nodded before Klein began answering.

"Okay. It's 713 Lycoris Garden Court. Got all that?"

For a moment, there was silence before Kikuoka spoke.

"Okay. Got it. We'll pick you up in about an hour. Take care of yourselves and prepare until then."

As Klein and Shi-Eun nodded, Kikuoka spoke again to him.

"Oh, and Klein? About your job search, consider yourself hired."

With that, the call ended, making Klein surprised about what he said as he spoke.

"Hey! Don't I gotta have an interview first?!"

Unfortunately, with the call having been ended, Klein was left hung to dry as he groaned before Shi-Eun placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Well, at least we'll find our friends, and your job."

"Yeah. I guess. I don't know if I'll like it, though."

* * *

As time passed, when they were picked up via limo before being taken to a helicopter, and then to the Ocean Turtle, Klein began to know the answer as he shouted just as he and Shi-Eun got out of the helicopter and stepped onto the platform.

"I love it!"

As the two looked around at the scenery around them, Klein continued to speak his mind as Shi-Eun admired the beauty of the ocean.

"No wonder Yuuki wanted to go. How could Korai say no to all this before now?"

Just then, Lieutenant Nakanishi went up to them and spoke, making Klein and Shi-Eun turn to him.

"Hello. Kikuoka's been expecting you for some time."

With that, Klein made a cool smile to him, in the hopes of impressing Shi-Eun. It was easy to forget about his stress and panic from being in debt with sights like the ocean and his now occasional ability to play it cool.

"Must've missed the memo. Can you take us to the boss, if it's not too much trouble?"

Ignoring the arrogance that came with Klein's get-up, Nakanishi only nodded before he spoke.

"Right this way."

As he walked forward, Shi-Eun walked with Klein before she spoke to him.

"Are you sure this is necessary?"

"Totally. We gotta blend in, in case they're... you know."

"It's highly doubtful they're Laughing Coffin, Klein."

"True. But Korai said no to them for a reason. And if he doesn't trust them, I'm not so eager to trust them. Besides, I found the guy sneaky to begin with."

"Well, if you say so..."

From there, Klein and Shi-Eun underwent several scans from metal detectors and the like before they finally reached the main room in front of them. It was in that room where they noticed a monitor showing a castle at the center of everything from above with five gates dividing the kingdoms as Kikuoka and Rinko watching the scene with Higa manning the controls before Rinko and Kikuoka turned to them the former having been expecting them to go with Korai and the others before she spoke.

"Oh. There you are."

"Well, well, well. Just the people I wanted to see. I hope you aren't too mad about being left out."

As Klein and Shi-Eun turned to Kikuoka, the latter of the group only spoke with a slight shake of the head before she got to the matter at hand.

"Oh, no. It's quite alright. It was an honest mistake. Although, we are wondering where our friends are at the moment."

"Well, I'll be happy to show you."

With that, Kikuoka turned to Higa before he spoke to him as to what he needs to do.

"Higa."

"Got it. Zooming in, now."

As Higa managed to zoom in, the monitor moved in closer on the grassy plains to show Kirito, Asuna, Sachi, Shino, Rika, Keiko, Suguha, Korai, Yuuki, their children, and Eugeo going along with them as rain fell down on them. Upon seeing them, Klein and Shi-Eun became surprised as they widened their eyes before she spoke to Kikuoka.

"What is this? Is it like virtual reality?"

"Not quite. What you're actually seeing is a datascape."

This made Klein curious as he looked to the Lieutenant Colonel before he spoke.

"A datascape? You mean they're inside a computer?"

"Not that kind of datascape. It's actually more complex than that."

"Really? Complex how?"

With that, Higa piped up and offered to explain.

"Well, wait till I tell ya."

* * *

And so, Higa explained to Klein and Shi-Eun about how the Seed helped Kikuoka establish a new world to raise souls in that system. Of course, they were obviously stunted to learn that they have not only managed to copy the souls of infants, but they'd also been raising them in what Klein called the datascape. From there, they were told about Kikuoka's plan to build a bottom up artificial intelligence. So far, only one of them managed to think and act for herself and encouraged others to do the same: Alice. Upon finding her out, Kikuoka sent Eiji and Yuuna to preserve her and her fluctlight. But that's not the only issue.

In the Underworld, countless A.I.'s would follow each rule given out by the Axiom Church in the Taboo Index one hundred percent, which was a great contrast between that and the real world where people still broke the law, but Kikuoka considered it too perfect. As Klein heard this, though, he began to wonder why Kikuoka needed Korai to begin with. The answer to that utterly shook them to the core: the Sorcerer. As they heard about how he's managed to survive via somehow copying his soul and plugging it in, Klein and Shi-Eun became very surprised. Yet, it made the objective all the more clear to them as Klein spoke to Kikuoka before the stifled Rinko spoke to him tensely about how Klein viewed Korai.

"So that's it, huh? Korai must not have wanted to face that guy again after what he's been through. That's why he couldn't go; he was scared to death."

"My son is not a _coward_. He didn't know about that at the time. Korai said no back then because he didn't know the risks that played in this datascape. It's a blend of both the real world and the virtual. So long as they're blurred, the risks would be worse than SAO. And he simply didn't want Yuuki to take those risks, not even if it meant seeing his father again. He cares too much about her to go chase after answers."

"And then the Sorcerer showed up, didn't he?"

"Yes."

At that moment, Shi-Eun had a different question in mind as she noticed Kikuoka's neck left with marks that described two hands upon it before she spoke.

"What happened to you, Kikuoka? You have marks on your neck."

Upon realizing this, Kikuoka didn't want to go into detail with that and rubbed his neck softly as he spoke.

"It was just a difference of opinion. It's nothing to worry about."

Klein didn't really believe that as he spoke before moving on to how his friends accessed the Underworld as he looked to the monitor.

"Yeah, right. Still, there's one thing I don't get. If their souls are in this Underworld or whatever, then where are their bodies?"

* * *

To answer him, Kikuoka spoke up to Klein as he and Shi-Eun were led downstairs to the STL room where several nurses looked after the divers.

"They're currently in their Soul Translators. That's how they're in the Underworld at present. And of course, we have nurses to keep an eye on them 24/7. So if anything happened to them, we'd be there to help."

Upon seeing their friends on the STLs, Shi-Eun felt them to be strangely familiar. After all, she recalled Yuuki's situation being exactly like this as she spoke to Kikuoka.

"Wait. Those STLs. Are they Medicuboids?"

As he took notice of the similarity between the two, Kikuoka smiled at her before he replied with Shi-Eun looking at the models in the room with Eiji, Yuna, Korai, Yuuki, Kirito, and Asuna present.

"Not necessarily. I understand the confusion, but the designs for them were actually based off of the Medicuboid."

"Right. There's about... six STL's here."

Just then, one of the nurses came from behind them and spoke to Klein and Shi-Eun.

"There are other units in Roppongi with the total adding up to thirteen. Although, they're in the lower shaft."

Upon seeing this nurse, Klein recognized her. And he should. She was there when after the Sorcerer was slain, and the one who nursed him back to health, no less. With that, Klein couldn't help but become confused as he spoke.

"Hold on. I saw you helping Korai out after he put the Sorcerer six feet under. Are you an actual nurse, or are you just faking?"

"I'm a nurse. I'm registered and everything, and I have the papers to prove it. Although, full disclosure, the nursing school I graduated from is affiliated with the Tokyo Self-Defense Force."

This made Klein and Shi-Eun widen their eyes in surprise before the nurse made a salute as she spoke.

"Sergeant 1st class, Natsuki Aki. As long as I'm on duty here, I swear I will protect Kayaba and his friends. We good?"

As Aki made a wink with a smile, Shi-Eun smiled back at her as she spoke to Aki. As she spoke, however, Shi-Eun's own worries were starting to kick in as she recalled how Yuuki was stuck in a Medicuboid for the past two years, causing her tears to appear as drops in her eyelids.

"Yes. But... I'd still feel better seeing Yuuki for myself. Seeing her like this in person, I know she doesn't have the virus anymore, but still... it brings back too many memories."

"I heard. Kurahashi told me about what she went through. But don't you worry about a thing. If Yuuki's as much a trooper as he told me she is, then she'll be more than okay. She is the absolute swordswoman after all."

As Shi-Eun looked through the glass, she couldn't help but smile, recalling how well she handled her situation compared to her. She always smiled, carrying on with the day like it was normal. And that was before she met Korai, too. Knowing how brave she is for herself, she couldn't help but feel Yuuki's optimism rub off on her as she smiled.

"That's right. She is."

With that, as Klein eased up with seeing Shi-Eun's smiling face, he still had feelings of distrust towards Kikuoka as he spoke to him.

"So, what were you really doing with them before you brought our friends into this?"

"I told you it was about a difference of opinion. Korai will explain when you find him."

Knowing that he's not in the mood to talk himself, what with an apparent attempt on his life, Klein shrugged his shoulders while keeping his tense gaze.

"You know what? Maybe I will."

Before they could get started on that, though, Rinko felt as though she was the one who placed them in this position with her role in the SAO incident before she felt the guilt of it rising up and threatening to spew out of her. To deter this, Rinko spoke to Shi-Eun and Klein.

"Can we talk?"

Upon hearing this, Klein and Shi-Eun turned to Rinko before the latter of the two turned to Kikuoka.

"Actually, can we talk with her first?"

"I don't mind. Take all the time you need."

* * *

Later, in Rinko's room, Kira was reading her study guides wearing headphones as Klein and Shi-Eun sat down on the bed beside her as he spoke about her to Rinko.

"Wow. Cute little bookworm, isn't she?"

"Yes. She usually likes to study and learn everything about the world's cultures. That includes technological advances in them as well."

With that, Rinko knelt down to Kira and took off her earphones before she spoke.

"Kira, can you go study with Higa?"

"Sure, Mother."

With that, Kira took her studies with her and walked out as she hummed. This made Shi-Eun smile at her before she spoke.

"You must be proud to raise such a resourceful daughter."

However, Rinko didn't quite feel that way as she frowned.

"Proud isn't the word I'd use to describe myself. There's... something I have to confess to you two. Mm-mm. Not just to you. I owe one to all the SAO players, both living and dead."

This made Klein widen his eyes before he spoke, thinking it could have a major impact, though he failed to see what she had in mind would blow their current situation out of the water.

"And what's that all about?"

"I'm sure you heard the story, about how during the SAO incident, Akihiko Kayaba and I were hiding in the mountains of Nagano?"

"Yeah. Kiri-dude told me about that about a year back. What's that got to do with anything?"

As an answer, Rinko parted her shirt and revealed her necklace sitting on top of her chest with a scar on the top of the left mound, making them widen their eyes with gasps as she explained.

"That scar is from a micro-bomb Akihiko implanted there. The news said he put it there to force me to stay and help him with his plan during those two years. But that's not the truth. Yes, the bomb was real, but I knew it would never go off. He put it there so that when we were caught, I wouldn't be charged with aiding and abetting and Kira wouldn't be left without a parent to look after her. Thing is, she was five years old, back then. It was a bluff to keep us safe, and the only present he ever gave me. When Akihiko got into the Toto Institute of Technology, he was already the head of development in Argus. But I didn't know about that. All I saw was a scrawny loner who only cared about his research. But Shiki... she saw more to him than that."

As she spoke about her, Rinko couldn't help but smile sadly about her best friend.

"She was just like Yuuki. But me and Akihiko were total opposites. Despite that, we started dating at her request. One thing I could never figure out was why he wanted to stay with me, let alone take the two of us together instead of one or the other. The other was him. That happened when Korai was at a young age, but Shiki... Sugou raped and murdered her. After that, he closed himself off from me and Kira, and kept his son by his side. Then, one day, I realized I had all that time together... and I didn't know him at all. At first, I thought he was doing this for petty revenge for what happened to Shiki. Misery loved company, after all. But regardless, I knew Akihiko was at his cabin. But I didn't go there because I wanted to help him; I... I went because I wanted to kill him. And then, I don't know why, but I... I... I couldn't do it. He knew what I was thinking, that I had a knife. But he just smiled at me and said, 'what am I gonna do with you?' Like he always did. And then, he went back to Aincrad."

This made Klein tense his hands as Shi-Eun took notice of this before Rinko began to shudder with regret as she began to sob before she spoke.

"I'm so sorry."

As Rinko sobbed her heart out, Klein kept his gaze at her before he spoke.

"So it's all your fault, then."

Hearing this, Rinko gasped before Klein began to stand up and tense his hand into a fist, intending to strike her down, making Shi-Eun worried about what he could do as she spoke.

"Klein..."

"You had your chance to end it all... but you didn't. Instead, you let so many people die! And for what?!"

As Klein swiftly slammed Rinko to the back of the wall with his arm crushing her neck, making Shi-Eun worried as she spoke.

"Klein, please calm down. She's not the one who did this to your friends."

"OF COURSE SHE IS! SHE HAD HER CHANCE TO HELP, AND SHE DID NOTHING!"

As Klein shouted this, Shi-Eun tried to further dissuade him from his current course.

"What's done is done! Killing her won't bring them back! It won't change anything!"

"You're wrong. One thing will change... I won't have to look at that pissant's face anymore!"

"KLEIN, DON'T!"

As Klein prepared to strike her in the face, he threw it hard at her. However, his punch only stopped short of her face by an inch, stunning her. At first, she was surprised that he held back. But as she saw Klein's look of hesitation, Rinko knew the answer. It was Shi-Eun.

"Think about it. If she did kill him, what then? Laughing Coffin would still be around, and then Korai would never have met us. And Yuuki wouldn't have been alive!"

This made Klein widen his eyes at her saying this before he retorted, clearly angry with what she didn't do.

"So what?! You honestly think she owes Kayaba anything?!"

"I do. It was _his _Medicuboid that saved her. And, in a way, that's what brought me to you."

As he heard this, Klein tensed at this before he quickly let her drop to the floor before Rinko coughed from Klein's roughness before he glared at her and spoke.

"The only reason you're alive... is because I have bigger fish to fry. After this is over, I will kill you. I mean that."

With that, Klein walked out of the room with a bitter look as he spoke.

"Come on, Shi-Eun. We're done here."

As Klein walked out, Shi-Eun held her head down out of worry. Why would Klein have acted this way, especially when it was in complete contrast with his usual character? Maybe deep down, he's angry with what happened in that death game. So angry he wanted to kill Kayaba for it. But if that were it, why didn't he get to Korai, then? He must know that Korai was as much a victim to it as he was. But he seemed to think Rinko was a different story. Regardless, Shi-Eun could only comply with him, if for no other reason than to keep her eyes on him if he should go rogue as she walked out with him.

Later, Rinko was sleeping beside Kira as she snuggled next to her mother before footsteps cane closer to them, making the mother stir as she heard a familiar voice.

'_Coming all the way out here? What am I gonna do with you?'_

Forgetting about all the events that happened between them, Rinko only moaned as she spoke to the figure above her.

"It's so early... come back to bed."

As Rinko shut her eyes again, she then heard Shiki's screams of terror before opening them to see her nude and murdered body in front of her, making her as pale as a ghost before the figure beside her, revealed to be the Sorcerer that attacked her son, glared at her before he spoke coldly to her.

'_Her death is on your head.'_

Just then, he pulled out a gun and shot a bullet at Rinko, sending her into shock as she woke up startled with a gasp. As she looked around, she could still see Kira snuggling by her before she got up and tried to see where the figure that talked first with her went. But sadly, she found that there was no one else before she tried to head to the main hall where the monitor was. Unfortunately, there was no trace there either as she clutched on her necklace before she spoke to herself.

"Was that... a dream?"

As an answer, Cancer's fluctlight popped up suddenly and spoke.

"It's a real mystery."

Upon seeing him, Rinko was taken aback by the suddenness of his reply as she gasped before he spoke.

"Rinko, I presume? I have a message for you..."


End file.
